Music Love
by rpgfan04
Summary: Naruto always wanted to play the cello. He moves to a new town and sees an ad. He goes the place, meets the tutor, and watch as the sparks fly. Kakanaru. On Hold.
1. prolouge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Sakura wouldn't exist and Kakashi, Sasuke, Neji, and Gaara would be hitting on Naruto (XD).**

**A/N: I got this idea when I was reading "Because You Never Knew" by shi-chan ( One of the best KakaNaru stories I have ever read!). I was thinking of asking someone to beta my previous (and un-beta) chapters, but was too lazy (and too stressed : X). Fotunately, Lilalemslale was nice enough to spend her time to beta my previous chapters (Thank you for that! Lilalemslale -hugs-). **

**Anyways, enjoy the new and betaed prolouge! There'll be some changes, but only on grammer, spellig, and different choice of words.**

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Naruto woke up with a screeching call and a pain in his stomach. Naruto slightly opened his eyes to see the source. _'I swear.' _Naruto thought, _'If it's Ino or Sakura, I'm going to kick their slutty-' _

"DEMON!" Naruto's foster father bellowed. "Time to wake your shitty ass up!"

"Yes, sir." Naruto quietly said as he quickly sat up, his eyes wide open.

His foster father grunted and descended downstairs. Naruto glared at his back. _'Prick!' _Naruto cursed in his thoughts. Naruto rubbed his eyes and walked to his bathroom, his body moving as if he was drunk. His bathroom was dirty, to say the least. The floor was covered with grime and dirt, but if you squinted REALLY hard, you'd see that the floor use to be white. The toilet and shower were covered in grime and dirt, but not as much (He had cleaned some of the dirt). He stumbled to his dirty sink.

Still feeling tired, he squeezed the toothpaste onto the toothbrush in a sloppy way (sloppy meaning as in nearly all around the toothbrush). A big foam was instantly in his mouth, but Naruto ignored it. Naruto washed his face, and soon felt awoken and fresh. Naruto gelled his hair and shaved. He looked into his slightly dirty mirror.

_'Naruto, you still look like a sexy fox!'_ Naruto thought to himself as he grinned at the mirror image. His facial features had 6 whisker scars, 3 on each of his cheeks. His face looked sharp, but still looked very feminine. His spiky blonde hair looked tamed from the hair gel. His bright cerulean eyes were masked with fake happiness. His body was toned and slim, but he was slightly shorter than most 16 year olds.

He went to his room and quickly searched for his uniform in the open boxes. The bastards from the school district didn't give him a uniform. Also, his parents wouldn't give a damn about him even if he was shot to death, so he doubted that he could ask his foster parents for money without getting sneered at and almost beaten to death. So, he used his own money.

Unfortunately, the uniform was expensive (around 90 dollars). After buying that, Naruto had barely any money left. _'Fucking school district counsels,' _Naruto thought as he changed into his uniform. The uniform consisted of a pair of long, blue pants, a black-buttoned shirt, and a blue, long-sleeved coat that had a small pocket on the right breast with the school crest.

After changing, Naruto grabbed his backpack and went downstairs to meet his caring parents (note the sarcasm). He set his backpack near the door and went into the kitchen and saw that everyone was sitting at the table. His foster dad was sitting in front of the table, while his foster mom was sitting at his right. Ino was sitting at the left of his foster dad, and Sakura was sitting next to Ino. Both were talking quietly. _'Probably thinking of a way to embarrass the shit out of me again,' _Naruto thought.

Ino and Sakura weren't part of the family, but their parents were best friends with Naruto's foster parents and decided to spend the night here to order Naruto around. _'They knew Naruto's foster parents wouldn't let their _filthy_ foster son touch them.' _Naruto thought sarcastically. He took the remaining seat at the table, next to Sakura.

Naruto was assaulted with Sakura's overdosed perfume. Naruto resisted the urge to throw up. Sakura turned to him and flashed a poorly faked, sweet smile at him. Naruto smiled back, while still having the urge to throw up. He was about to get breakfast, when he noticed that the people at the table purposely ate everything, and left nothing for him.

Naruto had the urge to snap at them, but immediately went against that. _'Two words: Foster Father.' _Naruto thought to himself. His foster father usually beat him up about four times a week, and he didn't want it to turn to five times a week, plus the beating from when he came back from school. So, ignoring his grumbling stomach, he said goodbye to everyone at the table, picked up his backpack, and went outside.

Once he was out of the yard, he dug into his backpack and found his MP3. He turned it on and listened to the solos on the cello. Naruto, for as long as he could remember, wanted to play the cello. He longed to have the instrument tucked between his legs, and to play the strings and hear the deep sounds. Unfortunately, he had to buy a cello and get lessons, and all of that was money, which Naruto was quite short on.

He hummed a tune. He thought about the new school. Naruto had recently moved here because his school expelled him when a student ran crying to the principal's office about Naruto 'abusing' him. Since the school took abusing students seriously, he was expelled; but Naruto thought it was the school's excuse to get him out of their school. So, Naruto and his foster parents moved to here.

When Naruto thought that things couldn't possibly get worse, his foster family moved into the house that was between Sakura and Ino' s houses. During the two weeks that he had been there so far, he was abused and ordered around. _'I'm in my personal hell,' _Naruto thought. Naruto scoffed at that thought. _'I've always been for 5 years.' _Naruto snapped back to reality when he collided with a solid chest. He caught himself from falling.

"Sorry," Naruto said as he faked a grinned at the person.

"No problem, just watch out more, okay?"

Naruto was only up to the guy's chin. He looked around his late 20's. 3/4 of the man's face was covered with a mask and a bandage was covering his left eye. He had silver hair that flopped to his left and was wearing a pair of navy blue slacks, and a grey shirt. He was holding on of the 'Icha Icha Paradise' books. Naruto scratched the back of his neck, still wearing the fake grin. The man started to walk past him.

"You know, you don't always have to smile when you don't want to."

Naruto's eyes widen at what the man said. _'How did he-' _Naruto thought as he turned, expecting to see him. But he was gone, as if he was never there. He shook his head. _'Must have been my imagination.' _The blonde looked at his watch. It was 7:45.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed. "I'm going to be late!"

Naruto quickly shoved his MP3 in his backpack and ran to his new school. The school was at the top of a hill that was near his house, so he didn't have a problem finding it, but it still took him at least 15 minutes to get there.

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Finally making to the entrance of 'Konoha High', he leaned over and put his hands on knees. He was panting heavily. _'I still have a few minutes left.' _The late bell rang. Naruto cursed and grabbed his schedule. _'First class: English. Room 105. Teacher: Umino Iruka.' _Naruto read. He quickly searched for the classroom. _'99..101..103..105!' _Naruto stopped and quickly opened the door. He stepped in.

"You're the new student, right? Well, welcome!"

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**A/N: I was too lazy to change the ending (which I still think sucked) T.T Please R&R!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto T.T**

**A/N: Lilalemslale was kind enough to beta my pervious chapters (since I was too lazy to ask sometime :'( Anyways, hope you like the beta version of chapter 2! XD**

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_'How the hell did I get stuck sitting with a goth person, a panda dude, and a blind guy?' _Naruto thought. He thought of what had happened a few minutes before.

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**Flashback **

_"You're the new student, right? Well, welcome!" the teacher said. _

_Naruto looked at the teacher, who looked to be around 25. He had dark skin and a scar across the bridge of his nose. He had brown shoulder length hair that was tied up in a high ponytail. He was wearing black slacks, a dark, blue shirt, and a black tie. The teacher smiled at him. _'Please, please, please,' _Naruto thought. _'Don't ask me to-'

_"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Iruka said. _

_Shit._

_Naruto slowly walked to the front center of the room. Everyone's eyes were on him. _'Damn, I hate introductions,' _Naruto thought. He looked around the room and spotted 3 pairs of strange eyes looking at him strangely; one pair was pale green, the other black, and the last pair white. Naruto shivered._ 'Naruto, ignore them for a moment and get over the introduction!' _Naruto mentally shouted at himself. Naruto straightened himself up and flashed his fox grin._

_"Hi! My name's Naruto. Remember it!" Naruto said, slightly shouting. _

_The teacher smiled at the boy's energy. He turned to Naruto. _

_"My name is Iruka-sensei," Iruka said. "Now, why don't you sit next to Neji. Neji, can you raise your hand?" _

_The white-eyed boy, that was one of the people who had been staring at Naruto, raised his hand. The boy was near the other 2 guys that were staring at him strangely. _'Great'_ Naruto thought. '_And I thought things couldn't get any worse.' _Naruto felt two glares directed at him. He turned and saw Sakura and Ino looking at them. _'I shouldn't have thought of that,'_ Naruto thought, mentally kicking himself. _

_He heard a cough and turned to see Iruka waiting for him to sit down, so he could continue. Naruto blushed in embarrassment, as some of the students giggled and chuckled. He quickly went to the pale-eyed boy and sat to his right. _

_"All right class, let's continue." _

**Flashback over**

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Naruto groaned quietly and looked up to the ceiling. _'No matter how much I deny it, it's actually true. Either there's no god, or he seriously hates me,' _Naruto thought. The blonde looked around, totally ignoring Iruka. Beside him, was ,of course, the pale-eyed dude (who, in fact, isn't actually blind) named Neji. Neji also had long hair that reached to his back, which made him look like a girl in Naruto 's opinion, and had pale skin. He was wearing a uniform that was exactly like Naruto's. Naruto studied Neji's face, noticing that Neji was concentrating hard on what the teacher was saying, and was writing, what looked likes notes, on a piece of paper.

The person in front of him was the person who Naruto thought was a Goth. He had a pair of black eyes (Naruto saw when he saw him staring at him), black, spiky hair, pale, almost white skin, and was also wearing the uniform. He had that 'get-the-fuck-away-from-me' look, but Naruto ignored it. Naruto looked at the person behind him. The last person who had been staring at him strangely, was staring at him again. Naruto fought back a shiver. The guy was pale and had pale green eyes. _'This guy has WAY to much eyeliner,' _Naruto thought._ 'If he's trying to make a new look, it's not working; actually it's scaring the hell out of everyone,' _Naruto thought in a joking way to stop the shiver at his spine again.

The green-eyed boy had blood red hair that left a space on the right part of his forehead for a character that said 'love' and was wearing the school uniform. He had that 'come-close-to-me-and-you-die-a-horrible-death' aura had made Naruto shiver. Naruto studied closer at the boy. _'He seriously looks like a PMSing panda,'_ Naruto thought as stopped the urged to shiver and controlled the urged to laugh.

Laughing at a person who is staring at you strangely and has a killer aura for no good reason is not really the brightest idea.

Naruto looked across his right. At the end of the right row was Sakura and Ino, glaring him like there was no tomorrow. _'If looks could kill,'_ Naruto thought shivering. The blonde saw a paper on his desk out of nowhere. He picked it up, unfolded it, and read:

_New Kid,_

_I seriously feel sorry for you; you got stuck with those 3 guys. The name's Inuzuka, Kiba. I'm just 2 desks to the right from you. If you want to hang out with the cool guys, reply back. _

Naruto looked at the second desk to his right and saw a guy that really reminded Naruto of a dog. The boy had 2 red mark each on his cheeks. _'Probably tattoos,' _Naruto thought. He had short spiky brown hair and dark eyes. The boy waved slightly to Naruto, to which Naruto waved back. The blonde took out a piece of paper and replied back:

_Don't call me new kid! It's Naruto! Anyways, sure, where are we going to hang out at? _

Naruto folded the paper and quickly threw the note to Kiba when Iruka wasn't looking. Kiba caught it quickly, opened it and read it. After a few minutes later, he threw a note back. Naruto caught it. The note read:

_I'm still calling you new kid. _

Naruto stopped and instantly pouted at the sentence. The blonde continued on:

_Anyways, we'll meet at lunch. Look for a lazy-looking person and a slightly chubby dude eating chips. _

Naruto looked and nodded at Kiba, who nodded back. Then the bell rang, ending 1st period.

"Remember! A 500 word essay of what you did on summer break!" Iruka said before anyone left.

Most of the students groaned, including Naruto. Naruto walked up to Kiba and the two instantly started talking. When they were at the door, Naruto saw the Goth dude. Ino and Sakura picked an arm latched on to it and tried to get a word out of him; keyword: tried. _'I feel sorry for the guy,' _Naruto thought. _'Maybe I should help him out. Plus, this is one of the rare tricks I get to pull on them without getting beaten up by Mishiba.' _

"Hey...Sakura, Ino, I think there's a forum on the board outside for 'Fashion Modeling,'" Naruto lied.

Sakura and Ino squealed and ran out in a flash. Naruto snickered. Kiba was laughing, and rambling about 'dumb bitches trying to do anything to impress ice prick.' The blonde waited for the Goth dude to thank him.

"I didn't need your help," The Goth boy said.

"What!" Naruto shouted. "You ungrateful bastard!"

The Goth had a surprised look on his face, but was covering it up with a smirk. And Kiba...well let's just say his mouth was big enough for a dog to go in.

"Hn."

Now Naruto was seething with anger. _'The guy had the NERVE to smirk at me!'_ Naruto thought.

"Look! Who the hell are you and do you want to pick a fight?" Naruto shouted again.

"Hn, my name is Uchiha, Sasuke, and to answer your second question, who would want to pick a fight with you, Dobe."

_"Why you-" _Naruto started, but was interrupted.

"Naruto, let's go."

"What!" Naruto snapped his head to Kiba.

"He's not worth it. And we're almost late for class," Kiba said as he pointed to the clock.

"Oh shit!" Naruto cursed. Immediately forgetting his argument and running off.

Kiba was close behind, leaving a surprised Uchiha. A few seconds later, Sasuke smirked. _'What an interesting guy,' _Sasuke thought as he raced to is next class. _'I'll make him mine.' _

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Fortunately, Kiba and Naruto had the same class together, and their class was close by. So they arrived just in time. Naruto groaned. _'Ugh, I hate math, and this teacher isn't making it any better.'_ Their teacher was a woman named Kurenai. She had long black hair and red eyes that looked like blood. She was writing equations on the board, but to Naruto, they just looked like jumbles and morse code. Even Kiba was scratching his head at the all of the equations.

The teacher was showing the steps, some Naruto understood, but most made him confused. Naruto looked at the clock. _'One more minute!' _Naruto thought happily. The bell rang and everybody was instantly out.

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While Naruto was going to his third period (Kiba had a different class), he spotted an advertisement about music. It read:

"Looking for a place to learn the cello? Well, come to Kakashi's Music Shop! We'll give you a test to see if you have the determination to learn from the best. If you pass, you'll get a free cello. Also, each lesson from Kakashi costs 3,200 yen."

_'I'm definitely going to do that test, pass it ,and get that cello along with the lessons!'_ Naruto thought in determination. The blonde quickly took the small paper that had the address written on it next to the advertisement and went to find his next class.

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The third period bell rang and Naruto still couldn't find his class. He looked at both floors and still couldn't find his class._ 'Grr.. where is the class!' _Naruto thought in frustration. The blonde heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Neji a few steps in front of him. He was looking at him strangely, as if he wasn't supposed to be standing there. Naruto immediately walked up to him, smiling happily. Neji just stood there, waiting to see what Naruto was up to.

"Hey! ...Ne-gi, right?" Naruto said, trying to remember Neji's name.

"It's Neji." Neji said, his right eye twitching slightly.

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, could you help me find my next class? Please?" Naruto said, already using his kicked-puppy dog look at Neji.

Neji turned his head to the side._ 'Control, Neji,' _Neji thought. The raven-haired boy turned to the blonde boy with a stoic face, but soon felt his body turn to jelly when he was met with puppy dog look. _'Why is this happening to me? All the girls do this and I never get fazed, but that look from this guy makes him look-' _Neji's thought was cut off by Naruto's voice.

"So are you going to help me? Ne-ji?"Naruto asked, finally saying his name right.

Neji snapped back from his thought and looked at Naruto.

"Give me your schedule."

Naruto handed Neji his schedule. _'Third class: Drama. Teacher: Jiraiya. Drama Room.' _Neji mentally read. Neji soon read all of Naruto's periods. _'Hmm, this guy is in all of my classes. Maybe this is fate.' _

"I'm in the same class as you so follow me," Neji said.

"So, why were you out in the hall while everyone else is in class?" Naruto said as he followed Neji.

"I'm a hall monitor."

"Oh."

They arrived at double doors made out of cherrywood. Naruto turned to Neji and flashed a 100 watt smile.

"Thanks for helping me, Neji," Naruto said cheerfully.

"Your welcome," Neji said with a very small smile on his handsome face.

Naruto, still smiling, opened the doors and saw a guy with long white hair staring at a girl's underwear when the girl bent down to get het notebook(1). The girl noticed the man staring at him.

"EHH! Pervert!" The girl said, seething as she beaten the man to death.

Naruto bursted out laughing at the scene.

"Serves you right, old man!" Naruto said after laughing, while the man glared at Naruto.

"Do you realize this is the ninteen hundred and ninety-ninth time you did this, Jiraiya-sensei?" Neji said as he sighed.

"Yeah, I just need to see one more to make it two thousandth." Jiraiya said, grinning painfully.

"Wait, this old pervert is our teacher?" Naruto asked.

"Hey! You should know that, I'm one of the greatest actors to ever live! So you better show some respect," Jiraiya said.

"Yeah right! Your still an old pervert," Naruto muttered.

"Why you-"

"Jiraiya-sensei, I suggest you stop and continue on with the class," Neji stated as many people stared at the two.

Jiraiya straightened himself and cleared his throat.

"Right, let's continue on."

After that, the first day of school went smoothly.

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_'Okay, here's the place,'_ Naruto thought as he stood in front of 'Kakashi's Music Shop' sign. Naruto walked up and opened the front door. He looked up and saw a tall and rather bored looking man wearing a mask.

"E-eh! It's you!"

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**A/N: Please R&R!**

**(1): The** **girls' uniform is a blue blouse and a black short skirt.**


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto T.T

A/N: A/N: O.O! Never thought that there would be so much reviews on this story!-grins- I'm so happy! -Give out Naruto plushies-.Sorry if I took so long to write this chapter, but I was having a small writer's block. Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter! Also, this is the beta version (finally, XD).

Like to thank astarte lea for being my beta: D

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"E-eh! You!" Naruto stuttered as he pointed to the masked man.

"Hm? What can I do for you?" The man said as he looked at the boy.

"You're the one that bumped into me!"

"Hm?" The masked man sounded as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Did I really bump into you or is it your imagination?"

"Don't mock me! I KNOW you bumped into me! And you should know too!" Naruto shouted.

"Ok, ok. I remember. Just quiet down, people are staring." The man said as people continued to stare at the two.

Naruto made a 'humph' sound, crossed his arms, and pouted in a childish way. The masked man's right eye curved up, showing that he was smiling under the mask. _'Cute.' _The man thought. _'He reminds me of...' _The man's eye didn't curve anymore, and he frowned under the mask. _'No, now's not the time to think of him.'_

Meanwhile, Naruto was squinting at the older man in confusion as the man's eye curved up and then opened.

"Hey, are you ok?" Naruto said as he waved his hand in front of the man's face.

Out of reaction, the man held Naruto's hand that was in front of his face. Both immediately tensed, and looked at each other.

Crystal blue eyes meet with a dark eye.

_'Those eyes.' _The masked man thought. _'They look like his, but...he looks so innocent.'_ While, Naruto has small shades of pink across his scarred cheeks. _'He looks...handsome even with the mask.' _Naruto thought. _'No! What am I saying?'_

"Oi! Kakashi!"

Both boys snapped out of their trance and man immediately let go of Naruto's wrist. Naruto was blushing redder, while man was also blushing, but no one could see it through his mask. Naruto looked at the man who interrupted them.

The guy looked...sick. He had dark circles under his dark eyes, was unnaturally pale and was wearing a bandana around his head. _'Wait! Did he say Kakashi's here? But, no one's here now beside me, him, and that mask-' _Naruto thought. He stopped and made the connection.

"Wait! So you're Kakashi!" Naruto shouted again at the masked man.

"Yeah. Didn't you know who you were talking to?" The man identified as Kakashi asked as he straightened his posture.

"Well...no." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head nervously.

Kakashi's posture immediately fell. Kakashi looked at the blonde. _'Who is this kid?'_ Kakashi thought.

"Well, do you know who Kazuma, Arashi is?" Kakashi asked, feeling pain in his heart as he said the name.

"Of course! He's my idol!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kazuma, Arashi at the age of 25, had already been one of the best conductors in the world. He mastered every instrument and was a genius on the cello. He also composed many music compositions, all of them were awarded with best music of the year award (he composed a piece of music every year). Sadly, he died at the young age of 30, with a sickness, which even today, had never been known. There were rumors that Arashi had a son, but no one clarified it.

"Do you remember that he took three orphaned students under his wing?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah! They were Obito, Rin, and..." Naruto trailed off.

"I don't know much about the third person's first name, but his last name was Hatake, I think." Naruto said as he closed his eyes like a fox, thinking.

"Here's my ID." Kakashi said as he handed Naruto his ID card.

Naruto looked at him confusingly and looked at his ID.

"What the-!" Naruto shouted surprisingly.

On the ID it read:

**First name: Kakashi /Last name: Hatake / Age: 29/ Gender: Male**

"You're Hatake!" Naruto said, thankfully not shouting.

"Yep." Kakashi simply said as his eye curved.

_'Here comes the questions.'_ Kakashi thought tiredly. Every time Kakashi showed his last name, everyone starts to follow him or ask questions about him and Arashi, because they couldn't ask the other students. Especially the ones who wanted to be taught by him. If the people who wanted to be taught by him asked questions about his past, he immediately failed them on the test, because he doesn't want the people he teaches bombarding him with questions about his past. Getting back to reality, Kakashi waited for Naruto's response.

"Cool! So, what's the test about?" Naruto said, completely ignoring that Kakashi was taught by Kazuma, Arashi.

Kakashi took a small step back in surprise. Naruto squinted at the silver-head man in confusion._ 'Did I say something wrong?' _Naruto thought. While, the sick-looking man was looking at Naruto in slight amusement. _'This kid is interesting, even when he's not murdering people.' _Kakashi, recovered from the shock, looked at Naruto, with his eye curving. _'What a weird kid.'_ Kakashi thought as he stepped in front of Naruto.

"You know, you're a bit strange compared to the other kids I've met." Kakashi said, his eye still curving.

"Well, duh! I'm Uzumaki, Naruto!" Naruto said as he showed his fox grin, thinking the words were a compliment.

After a few moments of silence, Naruto realized the meaning of the words.

"Hey! Are you saying that I'm a weirdo!" Naruto shouted.

_'Thank God that no customers are here right now.'_ Kakashi thought as he slightly sweat dropped as Naruto yelled at him. A small cough was heard. Both of the boys turned to the sound. They saw that they completely left out the sick man.

"If you guys are done talking, I need to talk to Kakashi for a moment." The sick man said as he motioned his left hand to the back corner at Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded at the man, and followed him to the corner. After arriving at the corner, the sick looking man looked seriously at Kakashi.

"What is the problem Hayate?" Kakashi asked in a serious tone.

"Kakashi, you need to get an apprentice soon." The man called Hayate said.

"I know we just posted the advertisements a few days ago, but we cannot handle the amount of people that are throwing themselves at your feet. Especially the spoiled rich brats. People are even going as far as bribing us to let you teach them at least one lesson." Hayate stated, coughing slightly.

"Well! You don't have to worry about that problem anymore, because I found my apprentice!" Kakashi said cheerfully as he pointed at the confused Naruto.

Hayate had a surprised look on his face. His face quickly returned to the normal sleepy eyed look.

"You do realize his history Kakashi?" Hayate said in a cautious tone.

"Of course,Uzamaki, Naruto, at the age of 10, he was accused of murdering 50 people with a katana." Kakashi simply stated.

"He murdered 50 people! And you still want to teach this murderer how to play a cello! Think of the accusations from the press, when they see one of the best cello players in the world teaching a kid who killed so many people!" Hayate said, his voice rising slightly.

"Hayate! Calm down! Do you think it's a possibility that a mere 10 year old could possibly kill 50 people? It's practically impossible! The kid was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and because of the fury from the precious people lost, people accused him as a murderer." Kakashi said firmly.

Hayate glared at him, but Kakashi simply gave him a hard stare. Hayate returned back to his sick, sleepy look again.

"Fine, have it your way, but I'm not going to be part of anything the demon does." Hayate said.

"I never said you would be a part of this." Kakashi stated. "Quit if you want, but I'm still going to teach this boy the cello."

Kakashi started to walk towards Naruto, but was stopped by a hand on his right shoulder.

"One more question Kakashi. What would make you want to teach this boy the cello so much that you wouldn't care about the press' reaction?" Hayate asked.

"He isn't like any boy I've met and not because of his history, but his determination is unlike any other." Kakashi said as his eye curved at Hayate.

Hayate let go of Kakashi's right shoulder and walk towards the front door. Kakashi continued walking towards Naruto.

"What were you guys talking about?" Naruto said in interest.

"Nothing important. Also, be prepared to be here at 4 O'clock in the afternoon. I'll be keeping your cello here. Finally, congratulations, you pass the test." Kakashi said, his eye curving.

Naruto looked dumbfounded for a moment and then quickly registered everything. Soon, the blonde jumped up and shouted in happiness.

"Yes! I get to have my own cello!" Naruto shouted happily, ignoring that he also was going to be taught by one of the best.

Kakashi sweat dropped, but his eye was still curving. _'This kid is really interesting.'_

"Be sure though, to arrive here at 4 O'clock. I don't tolerate a late student." Kakashi said in a stern voice and some what, a dark aura surrounded him.

Naruto gulped and nodded. He soon grinned happily. The grin was soon replaced by horror when he looked at the time on his frog watch. Kakashi looked at Naruto with concern on his face. _'Did I say something wrong?'_

"Is something wrong Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

_'Oh shit! It's 5 o'clock! Foster father is going to kill me!'_ Naruto thought. Naruto turned to Kakashi with a hurried and (slightly) scared look that he couldn't hide.

"Look...ah, I need to go, I promised my mom I would to be back home by five. I promise I'll to be here by 4 o'clock. Bye Kakashi-sensei!"

And with that, Naruto ran off.

Kakashi looked at where Naruto stood. _'So far, I've learned three things from my student.'_ Kakashi thought._ 'One: he's very energetic. Two: he has great determination. And three: He's not a very good liar.'_

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Naruto arrived at his house, panting hard, almost wheezing. Naruto looked at his frog watch. _'5:16, damn! Mishiba's going to kill me!' _Naruto thought as he quietly opened the front door. He slowly and quietly tiptoed through the living room, and to the stairs. Once he arrived at the stairs, everything was, so far, safe.

"You little DEMON! Where have you been!"

Naruto tensed and turned. A fist was immediately at his face and on his left eye. Naruto fell down from the force and was kicked hard in the stomach. Naruto groaned in pain. The pain got worse for Naruto as his foster father grabbed a fist full of his blonde hair and dragged him up. Mishiba, again, punched him in the stomach.

After a few punches on the chest and one on the cheek, Naruto was released by his father. _'Thank God. I thought that was never going to end.'_

"You're lucky I went gone easy on you, demon. If you're ever late again, it will be so much worse than your feeling now." Mishiba said.

"Now, go to your room, and no dinner!"

Naruto complied as fast as a beaten person could. Once he was in his room, which was the attic, Naruto shoved the boxes away, and looked into his full length mirror. _'Damn, that's going to leave a bruise.'_ Naruto said as he examined his face, chest, and stomach.

His face was covered in black and purple from the bruises. Most would recover by tomorrow, but the eye and the left cheek bruise looked like it wouldn't heal for 2 more days. The chest and stomach were the worst. Practically, his chest and stomach were smothered in black and purple bruises, that wouldn't full heal for a week or two at the least.

Naruto groaned, part pain and part worried ness. _'I'm definitally going to have to lie about my bruises.' _Naruto thought sadly. He hated lying, but he had to. He walked slowly to his bathroom. He took off his clothes and went into his dirty shower. The blonde relaxed when the water hit his skin. He grabbed his shampoo and soap and began to wash himself.

Soon, Naruto came out of the bathroom with only a towel on, and looking refreshed. Naruto grabbed some ointment for his bruises. After that, he searched in one of the boxes and found what he was looking for. It was a pair of blue pajamas that had orange foxes with nine tails. Naruto quickly changed and set up his clock.

_'Don't want to wake up with a kick, especially with the bruises on my body.' _After finishing setting up the clock, Naruto pulled the blanket over his body, and turned off the lights. _'Remember.'_ Naruto thought._ 'I need to meet with Kakashi-sensei at 4 o'clock.'_

And with that, he closed his eyes and slept.

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A/N: It's done! It's done! -dances- I've finally finished chapter 3 : ) Also, thanks SO much for the reviews! If you read my profie, I said that I wasnt' going to update until I was back to America, but I did anyways -chuckles nervously-. I'm still in Taiwan, waiting for the clock to turn 4 o'clock as I can go to the airport. Finally, please review and I'll give out plushies in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: RPGFan does not own Naruto T.T**

**A/N: I'd like to thanks astarte lea for beta-ing this chapter (and this story XD).**

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Naruto woke up with a screeching cry of the alarm clock instead of a kick in his stomach. The blonde groaned and sat up. He shook his head to clear his drowsiness. He stood up and went to his bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and gelled his hair. Feeling refreshed, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Naruto winced at his reflection.

_'Naruto, you ain't looking like a sexy beast right now.'_ Naruto thought as he reached for ointment near the sink. Some of his bruises were healed, but his left eye is still black and his cheek was slightly purple too. He opened his shirt and examined his brusies.His chest is still covered in purple, some bruises were healing, but many weren't. Naruto rubbed the ointment on his chest, grimacing in pain as he touched the bruises.

After that, he got out of his bathroom and dressed up in his uniform. Right before he finished dressing, his stomach growled in hunger. _'I didn't eat dinner last night.' _Naruto thought as his stomach continued to growl. _'I'll have to make sure to eat breakfast this time.' _Naruto thought as he picked up his backpack, headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

Fortunately, Ino and Sakura weren't staying at their house. UNfortunately, there was no breakfast on the table again. His foster parents were ignoring him as usual. Naruto's stomach growled again. _'I really need to eat something.'_ Naruto walked to the shelves in front of him, ignoring his parents and vise versa. When he was just about to open the top drawers to his left, his foster father exploded in anger.

"You little demon! Do you think you can walk in here without showing respect!"

"We gave you a home, food, and a bedroom, and you still don't say anything or pay respect for us!" His foster mother added angrily.

This was too much for him. It's been six years since that incident. The orphanage treated like a peice of trash for a year. When he heard that he was getting adopted, he was very excited. Turns out, it was worse than the orphanage. Naruto couldn't take this anymore and didn't give a damn at what's going to happen later. With those thoughts and his rage right now...he exploded.

"Are you fucking serious! Why the hell should I give respect to you! Living in the orphanage is better than this! You barely gave me a home, you only gave me scrapes for you food, and you may have given me a bedroom, but it's barely a bedroom! Hell, the walls are already molding! If you want to talk about respect, read the definition first, and then come talk to me." Naruto shouted, adding the last sentence in sarcasm.

It was the last straw, for both of them.

His foster parents, looked like they were about to kill him._ 'And they will if I don't get out of here!'_ Naruto grabbed his backpack quickly as his father punched and missed him by a hair. The blonde ran out of the kitchen and quickly opened the door. His foster father tried to hit him again, but Naruto maneged to move to the right and his father hit the door, creating a large mark on the wooden door.

Once his father got ready to punch him, Naruto pulled the door so hard, that the door hit his father's face. His foster mother came out as well and started to approach him. His father, recovered from the hit, quickly starts to grab Naruto. Naruto closes his eyes, waiting for the hits, but he felt something yank him back and brought him outside.

"Naruto! Open your eyes!"

Naruto opened his eyes and had a look of suprise on his face.

"Iruka-sensei?"

"Now's not the time to talk. Follow me." Iruka said as he ran across the street.

Naruto followed without a word and didn't look back. He soon caught up with Iruka and found himself in front of a small silver Toyota. Naruo opened the passenger's door and quickly got in. Iruka searched for his car keys while Naruto looks out the window. His foster parents were running towards him, looking like the devil's minions, but they weren't carrying any weapons (thankfully).

Naruto snapped back when Iruka found his car keys and started the engine. They soon ran off just after Naruto's parents arrived at the fence. Once Naruto turned to look at side window, his foster parent were glaring at him. Naruto shivered and turned to look at the front window. After they past the danger zone, both were silent. Naruto turned back to the side window to looked and watched as they pass the houses. Iruka was the first to break the silence.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Iruka said in a soft, but firm voice.

Naruto tensed at the question. _'How am I going to say this? 'Oh, my parents abuse me just for the heck of it. Don't worry about it.'' _Naruto thought deadpanned. Naruto didn't reply and both became silent again. Iruka then understood the situation and spoke.

"...You don't have to say it now. I can wait."

Naruto looked at Iruka with a surprised look on his face at what he said. The surprised look on the blonde's face soon turned into curiosity.

"Iruka-sensei, how did you know my house address?"

"I didn't. I heard there was a new apartment near here, so I decided to check it out. It just so happened to be across from your house." Iruka paused to take a breath.

Naruto silently waited, which is slightly uncomfortable for Iruka, but continued on.

"Just when I left the building, I heard some shouts. At first, I thought it was a burglary, but as I got closer, I noticed that it was an argument and I heard a crack."

_'When foster father hit the door instead of me.'_ Naruto thought as he shivered at the thought when he was about to take that blow.

"And, I saw you were about to get punched by that man, so I grabbed your arm and pulled you outside." Iruka said, as he finished his explanation.

The silence continued.

"The man that was about to hurt me, was my foster father," Naruto said, breaking the silence.

When the car slowly stopped at the red stop light, Iruka looked at Naruto with a surprised and concerned look on his face. Then, the older man's face changed into one of concern as he looked at Naruto's cheek and left eye. _'A father shouldn't abuse a child! It's just not right.' _Iruka thought, feeling the need to protect this boy. _'No one, even if this kid did kill a lot of people, should suffer like that.' _

"Well, we know one thing, you aren't going back to that house. Especially with those people."

Naruto snapped his head away from the window and looked at Iruka with a shocked look on his face again.

"W-what?" Naruto managed to say out.

"For now, you'll stay with me. I need to report this to the police and try to find you decent parents." Iruka stated.

"No! I don't want to get you involved in this Iruka-sensei. I can handle this myself." Naruto said.

"Actually, I already got involved when I pulled you out of that house and when your parents saw me." Iruka said.

Naruto looked at Iruka and let out a small smile. Small, but real.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." Naruto said quietly.

Iruka nodded and smiled back at Naruto. The stop light turned green and Iruka drove off. Silence continued again, but was quickly erased when Naruto's stomach growled in hunger. Naruto instinctively put his hands on his stomach and blushed. Iruka chuckled at the boy.

"Why don't we get something to eat?"

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted, turning back into his old self.

"Well! Do you like ramen?"

"Like ramen? I LOVE ramen! Ramen is the best!" Naruto said as he started to blabber about how great ramen is while grinning.

Iruka sweat dropped a little, but still smiled at the cheerfulness raidiated from the younger man. After a few minutes, they arrived at a Ramen stand called 'Ichiraku'. Iruka turned to Naruto and smiled at him.

"Order anything you like."

Naruto's blue eyes lit up and he quickly ordered almost everything on the menu. A few minutes later, the blonde ate all 9 ramen bowls that he had ordered. Iruka has never seen anyone eat so much and that fast in his life. Naruto let out a small burp and sighed in content of his full stomach.

"Ahh...That was good! Thank you Iruka-sensei!"

"You're welcome." Iruka said as he paid for his and Naruto's bill.

_'Thankfully, I have enough money.'_ Iruka thought in relief, but silently weeping at the same time once he looked at the bill. The brunette looked at his black watch, which read 7:50. Iruka turned to Naruto, who was ginning in content of his full stomach.

"Naruto, it's almost time for school. Let's go."

Naruto nodded furiously and jumped off the seat like an energetic child. It seemed that he was back to his old self again. Iruka chuckled as they both headed towards his car.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------In School (1st Period)------------------------------------------------------------------**

When Naruto arrived at class with Iruka, Kiba waved at him and walked towards him. His happy face turned into concern as he walked closer to Naruto.

" Hey Blonde, what happened to your face?" Kiba asked, saying Naruto's new nickname.

"I...um, got into a fight with a couple of people, and don't call me blonde, Dog Breath." The blonde said as he lied through his teeth.

"Uh huh. Well, then let's go punch the shit out of those people!" Kiba said with a grin as he curled his hand into fist and punched it with his other open hand.

"Don't worry. I...um, managed to beat them up pretty good. So, don't worry about it." Naruto said as he forced a painful grin.

Kiba narrowed his eye in suspicion at Naruto. Naruto shifted under Kiba's uncomfortable gaze and turned his head to the side.

Bad choice.

He was bombarded with curious, yet concern gazes from Sasuke, Neji, and Gaara. _'Shit! They're coming over here!'_ Naruto thought panicky. Kiba noticed Naruto's panicked face and followed his gaze. The dog lover narrowed his eyes even further as he saw the top 3 students from Kohona High walking towards them. Once they arrived, Sasuke was the first to talk.

"Hey Dobe! What happened to your face?"

"Don't call me Dobe, Teme! And to answer your question, I got into a fight." Naruto said, pouting slightly at Sasuke's new nickname for him.

"Who were the people that you got into a fight with Naruto?" Neji said, as he glared slightly at Sasuke.

"Yeah, who were the idiots that wanted to even fight you?" Sasuke said, also glaring at Neji.

"Hello! I already asked that question!" Kiba said as he was trying to get into the conversation and in a way, saving the blonde.

Both of the raven-haired boys glared at him. Kiba felt something small in his throat and gulped slightly. Naruto tried to glare at Neji and Sasuke for making Kiba uncomfortable. Both the boys stopped almost stopped glaring. _'Cute.'_ Both the raven-hair boys thought as Naruto tried to glare.

"Answer the question, Naruto." Gaara said in a very quiet, but firm voice.

"Well...I don't know. I couldn't see their... faces." Naruto lied, trying to not tell the truth to Gaara.

_'I feel like I know him from somewhere.' _Naruto thought as he looked at Gaara. Gaara gazed back. The red-head kept his unemotional face, but felt a slight hurt from Naruto's lie. _'Remember.' _Gaara thought. _'He doesn't remember you.' _Neji and Sasuke glared at Gaara in slight jealousy. Naruto felt eyes burning into his back. _'Please.' _Naruto pleaded in his thought as he turned around. _'Don't tell me it's-' _

Sakura, Ino, and now Tenten, were glaring at him like there was no tomorrow. _'And here I thought I was fitting in with them.'_ Naruto thought as he sighed.

"Why are you sighing about Dobe?" Sasuke asked as he followed Naruto's gaze.

Neji also followed the blonde's gaze. All three of the girls that were glaring at Naruto, immediately waved and winked at Sasuke and Neji. Naruto shivered at the change of emotion, while Sasuke and Neji simply raised an eyebrow at them. Suddenly the bell rang, ending first period.

Everybody was out, except Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara. Sasuke gave the boys his infamous Uchiha glare.

"I don't know what kind of relationship you have with Naruto, but back off he's mine." Sasuke said.

"It's my fate to go out with Naruto, not yours' Uchiha." Neji stated.

"Why you-" Sasuke started in anger, while Neji glared at him in a sign of a challenge.

"You're both making it sound like Naruto's property."

Both of the boys snapped their heads at Gaara.

"What are you trying to say Gaara?" Neji asked in curiousity.

"I won't let anyone have a couple's relationship with him, if they think of him as property." Gaara said, his killing aura getting thicker and surrounding him.

Neji and Sasuke fought the urge to shiver from both the aura and that the fact that Gaara was glaring at them coldly. Gaara started to walk towards the classroom front door. The red head stopped in front of the door.

"If any of you hurt him in an emotional way." Gaara started in a deadly voice.

"I WILL kill you."

And with that, Gaara walked to his class, leaving a shocked Uchiha and Hyuuga.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------4th period-------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_'Who is Gaara?'_ Naruto thought. _'I heard from Kiba, that he was just a spoiled, rich brat. Both of his parents were dead, but he had two older siblings. The oldest now owned the family business.' _Naruto began to ponder more. _'It's strange..., but I really feel like I know him from somewhere-'_

"Naruto! Give me the scientific frequency of an Ultra Violet wave and what does it do."

"Uhh...umm..." Naruto manage out.

"As I thought. Remember to pay attention Naruto."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei," Naruto said.

Some of the students giggled at Naruto, who blushed in embarrassment. Naruto looked at Orochimaru. Orochimaru, if you noticed by now, is Naruto's 4th period science teacher. He REALLY reminded Naruto of a snake. He had golden eyes that look like a snake's eye. Long black hair that reached to his back, and VERY pale skin. Also, he had a creepy interest in boys.

"Alright class. Let's continue."

After a few minutes of listening to Orochimaru, the bell rang, ending 4th period.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------5th Period-----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto decided to arrive at 5th period early and saw Lee. Lee noticed Naruto and quickly ran up to him.

"Hello Naruto!" Lee said cheerfully, giving Naruto his youth smile.

"...Hi, Lee." Naruto said as he covered his eyes with his hands at the bright smile.

Rock Lee, or Naruto usually called him Fuzzy Eyebrows, was almost as energetic as Naruto. Almost. He had black, bowl cut shape hair, bug-eyed black eyes, and HUGE eyebrows. Every time Naruto sees them, he'd swore they'd move! But, still Lee was a good friend to Naruto, even though he creeped him out from time to time.

"It's finally gym! I'm going to show Gai-sensei how good I am! Yosh!" Lee shouted, flames of determination in his eyes.

Suddenly, a sunset appeared behind him and he stood on a rock with waves of water behind him as well. Upon this scene, Naruto slowly backed away from him. _'That guy is seriously scary when he does that.' _

"Uh...well, you do that. I'm going to the locker room to change," Naruto said as he quickly ran to the locker room.

Naruto went to his locker and opened it. He took out a pair of blue shorts, a black t-shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes. The blonde unbuttoned his blue coat and took it off. Just when he was about to take off his shirt, he stopped. _'Shit! I forgot about my bruises!' _Naruto thought. Suddenly, he felt two pair of eyes staring from behind him. He turned and saw Sasuke and Neji were gazing at him, their outfits changed, and urging him to go on. Naruto walked towards the stall to change when he was blocked by Neji and Sasuke.

"Neji, Teme, would you guys move, please?" Naruto asked, adding the 'please'.

Both of the boys nodded to each other and started moving towards the blonde.

"Uhh...what are you guys going to do?" Naruto asked nervously as he backed away from them.

Then the boys jumped and grabbed the blonde.

"HEY!" Naruto shouted in surprise.

Neji grabbed Naruto around the waist with his arms, while Sasuke unbuttoned Naruto's black shirt. _'No!' _Naruto thought as his eyes widened in fear. _'They can't see the bruises!'_ Naruto started to flail his arms and legs around wildly. Neji started to having a hard time controlling him, and quickly released one of his arms, grabbed the one of the blonde's other arms, and quickly pinned Naruto's arm to his waist. He did the same with the othe arm.

After noticing his arms were pinned, Naruto started to scream.

"Help! Someone help! Anybo-"

Naruto was cut off when Sasuke covered his mouth with his hand. Then, Sasuke unbuttoned the last three buttons while ignoring Naruto's tongue licking his hand in protest. Both of the raven-hair boys looked in shock at the dozens of bruises on the blonde's chest. Naruto, noticing them off guard moved to the left. Neji let go, still surprised. Naruto quickly buttoned his black shirt.

_'I can't cry! I won't cry!'_ Naruto thought as tears started to form on his eyes.

"Who did this to you!" Sasuke asked in anger and still shock.

"Naruto, tell us." Neji said, his voice itched with anger, but more calm than Sasuke.

"Why did you have to butt into this! It's none of your business!" Naruto said in anger.

And with that Naruto ran off, leaving two shocked boys.

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_'I need to get out of here.' _Naruto thought as he ran in the halls. He soon arrived at the entrance, with his hands on his knees panting. He then ran out of the school and turned to the right._ 'What am I going to do? What am I going to do?' _Naruto thought as he repeated that sentence over and over. Soon, he bumped into a hard chest. Naruto stepped back from the impact.

"Sorry." Naruto said quietly.

"Hey, Naruto."

Naruto snapped his head up and saw Kakashi looking down at him, his eye curving. Kakashi's eye stopped curving when he saw Naruto's face.

"Naruto, what happened to your face? Did you get into a fight?" Kakashi asked in concern.

"It's nothing Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, lowering his head so that his bangs covered his eyes.

The blond started to walk past Kakashi, when the older man stopped him by grabbing Naruto's right arm. The blonde winced at the pressure.

"Naruto-"

Kakashi was cut off when he heard quick footsteps coming closer to him. Kakashi turned around and saw two raven-haired boys looking around, as if for searching something. Naruto's eyes flashed in fear when he also saw them. Kakashi quickly made the connection and pulled Naruto in front of him, with his hands on each on his shoulders.

"Just walk slowly Naruto." Kakashi whispered in his ear.

Naruto fought the urge to shiver and nodded. He slowly walked down the streets. They were soon stopped by someone behind them.

"Excuse me Sir, did you see a short blonde boy running around here?"

Naruto tensed at Neji's question, but Kakashi patted his shoulders lightly and Naruto relaxed. Fortunately, the blonde was skinny and short enough for the two not to see that he was in front of Kakashi. From the behind, it looks like Kakashi had his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry, I didn't see anyone running around here." Kakashi said as he turned his head slightly towards the boys, his eye curving up.

"Thank you."

And with that, they turned to the opposite direction. Naruto slumped his shoulders in relief.

"Keep walking Naruto. You still have some explaining to do." Kakashi whispered in his ear again.

Naruto shivered at the contact and tensed at the sentence. Making sure the two were gone, Kakashi let go of Naruto's shoulders and walked off. Naruto quickly followed. After a few minutes, they were at 'Kakashi's Music Store'. Kakashi opened the entrance door and let Naruto go in first. Once both of them went in, Kakashi closed the door. The silence was thick in the air.

"Would you mind telling me what happened to you face and chest?" Kakashi asked as he turned to Naruto.

"Wait, how did you know-"

"They or the person couldn't have just hit you on the face." Kakashi stated.

Naruto tensed and turned his head to the side.

"Naruto, let me see your wounds."

Naruto shook his head to the side. Kakashi sighed softly. _'Why would anyone hurt him? Can't the people get it through their heads, that this kid isn't to be blamed for what happened 6 years ago?'_ Kakashi thought angrily. The older man pinched between the gap between his index finger and his thumb to relax.

"Naruto, I won't hurt you. I just want to see."

Silence descended again as Naruto decided what to do. _'He'll hurt me. Just like all of them.' _Narut thought sadly._ 'But, he may be different. He did say that he wouldn't hurt you.' _A small voice in his head said. _'Plus, he helped you when Sasuke and Neji were trying to find you.' _

After more silence, Naruto made up his mind and walked slowly towards Kakashi. Once he was in front of Kakashi, he slowly unbuttoned his black shirt. Kakashi's eye widened at the blonde's chest. Both of Kakashi's hands curled up into angry fists as he saw the bruises. Naruto backed away slowly, staring at the fists. Kakashi relaxed his hands.

"Sorry." Kakashi said.

Naruto slowly took a few steps closer to Kakashi. Once Naruto was in front of Kakashi, Kakashi looked at Naruto.

"We need to put some ointment on you chest and face. Is that ok?"

"But, I already put on some ointment." Naruto said.

"Well, all I can say is, that ointment you used really sucks." Kakashi said jokingly.

Naruto pouted at that statement and replied.

"Hey! It isn't that bad."

"Anyways, we still need to rub some ointment on your chest." Kakashi stated as he headed to the door in the way back.

A few minutes later, Kakashi came out with a medium sized tube of ointment. When he came close to Naruto, he squeezed some on his hand and rubbed it gently on Naruto's bruised chest before the blonde could protest.

"H-Hey! I could do it myself." Naruto said as his scarred cheeks turned slightly pink.

Kakashi didn't say anything as he continued to rub the ointment on the bruises. Both were silent. Somtimes, Naruto winced slightly at the contact, Kakashi would be more careful. _'He's so...gentle.' _Naruto thought and soon turned red at the thought. _'Naruto, come on this is your cello tutor for God's sake!'_

"Your chest is done, now we need to do the face," Kakashi said.

"I-I can do that myself!" Naruto said, his voice slightly high pitched.

Naruto closed his mouth and blushed in ten shades of red. Kakashi's eye curved. _'Such an innocent boy.' _Kakashi thought. _'Whoever he choses as his special person is going to be lucky to have him.'_ Kakashi felt a small, tight squeeze of pain in his chest at the thought. _'Maybe, I could be his special person and he could be mine.' _Kakashi thought as he watched Naruto rub ointment on his left eye. Kakashi quickly erased that thought in his mind. _'He's much too young and I'm his tutor.' _Kakashi thought, making excuses.

"Hey...Kakashi -sensei, I'm done. Thanks." Naruto said to Kakashi as he handed the tube of ointment to him.

Kakashi snapped back to reality and took the ointment and curved his eye at Naruto. Kakashi put the ointment into his right pocket. The silence continued.

"Well, since you can't go back to school right now, why don't we get started on your first lesson on the cello?" Kakashi said cheerfully.

Naruto's blue eyes lit up in happiness. He nodded furiously at Kakashi.

"Yeah! But, where's my cello?" Naruto said as he peered around the room energetically

Kakashi chuckled slightly and walked towards the back room.

"You stay here." Kakashi said as Naruto started to follow him.

Naruto pouted, but complied. A few minutes later, Kakashi came out with the most beautiful cello Naruto had ever seen. The cello was made out of blood wood that shined on the light of the room. It looked like it had been polished every day. It also had a matching bow, neither of them looked dusty or dirty, but it looked like no one has ever touched it.

"Wow! Is this new?" Naruto said energetically as he quickly walked towards Kakashi.

"Not really, it's 17 years old." Kakashi said, his eye curving at the boy's excitement.

"Who made this?" Naruto asked, his eyes looking at Kakashi curiously

"Kazama, Arashi."

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**A/N: Please R&R!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: -cheers- I've finished the chapter! XD Also, as for the people who have already read this chapter before (before I accidentally deleted this chapter -.-;), you'll need to read this chapter again 'cause I've change couple of stuff. Also, thanks SO much for the reviews! I also, have gotten names for Naruto's foster parents (I don't want to call them Naruto's foster parents continuiously -.-;) They're called Mishiba (the foster father) and Koyra (foster mother).**

**I'd like to thank my beta astarte lea for beta-ing my chapters (and the rest of my stories).**

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"Huh?" Naruto said as he looked at Kakashi with a shocked look.

Kakashi's eye was curved as he looked at the shocked boy. Never ceasing to be amused by the blonde's reactions. Naruto continued to look at the cello, itching to touch the smooth wood. Kakashi noticed this and sat the cello down. The cello was now fully covered by the lights. All four strings were reflecting slightly as was the same with the wood.

"Can I...?" Naruto trailed off, looking at Kakashi for permission.

"Go ahead. It's yours now, remember?" Kakashi said, with his eyes in a crescent moon shape.

Naruto's eyes lit up in happiness. He grabbed a chair that was at his right and also gently grabbed the cello by the neck. The blonde sat down and settled the cello between his legs. Kakashi stood still, looking at Naruto. Naruto plucked at the D-string of the cello, creating a small echo in the silent room. Naruto grinned happily, his dream was one step closer.

"Do you know how to play the scale?" Kakashi asked, looking at Naruto.

"Erm...No." Naruto said, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Don't worry." Kakashi said, giving Naruto a reassuring smile...well at least that's what Naruto thought.

"Alright then, let's start with the basics." Kakashi continued as he reached for the blood wood bow.

"Watch my fingers Naruto." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto watched carefully as Kakashi rested his right hand on top of the bow. His index finger was resting at the long rubber that was wrapped around the bow. The other two fingers were resting a bit farther to the right. The fingers were resting at the rectangular shape which was below the index finger, but a little farther to the right. His thumb was resting at the curve and nearly touching the two fingers. His pinky was resting on top of the metal part that was at the end of the bow.

"Now, you try." Kakashi said, giving the bow to Naruto.

Naruto nodded, set the cello down, and stood up. The blonde took the bow from Kakashi, brushing his fingers accidentally on Kakashi's bare fingers. Naruto felt a small heat rush up to his cheeks. Kakashi stayed calm, but he couldn't help the smile forming on his lips (without him curving his eyes). _'Cute.' _Kakashi thought as he continued to look at the blushing Naruto.

Finally calming down, Naruto started to form his fingers around the bow. He balanced the bow with his right hand. He rested his index finger on the long rubber like what Kakashi did. Two of his fingers were touching one of the rectangular shape sides. His thumb was touching below the rubber and his pinky was barely touching the end. Naruto felt uncomfortable holding the bow in the position.

"You're doing it wrong." Kakashi said, already noticing Naruto's discomfort.

"Eh?" Naruto said, looking curiously at Kakashi.

Kakashi stepped in front of Naruto and grasped the blonde's fingers. Naruto immediately blushed as Kakashi gently moved his fingers. Kakashi took Naruto's thumb and moved it so it was touching the curve of the rectangular shape. He then moved the blonde's index finger slightly down from the position so that Naruto could reach the end with his pinky. Naruto relaxed and felt comfortable. Though, he continued to blush at the contact.

"There." Kakashi said as his visible eye curved at Naruto.

Naruto's fingers felt slightly cold when Kakashi released his hands from Naruto's fingers. It felt nice when Kakashi held his hand...fingers. _'Wait, what am I thinking!' _Naruto shouted in his head. _'Kakashi-sensei is my teacher!' _

"Naruto?"

Naruto snapped back from his thoughts and looked at Kakashi.

"Huh?" Naruto asked curiously at Kakashi.

"You weren't listening." Kakashi stated looking at Naruto with a bored, but still slight stern look in his eyes.

"I was!" Naruto replied as he glared and pouted at his teacher.

"Then what was I saying?" Kakashi asked.

"Eh..." Naruto said as he grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Next time, listen." Kakashi said as he gave Naruto a lazy look.

"..." Naruto kept silent, but continued to pout at Kakashi.

"Anyways, I'll show you how to do the scales." Kakashi said as he walked into the storage room in the back room.

Naruto sat back down on the chair and settled his cello between his legs. The bow was still in the same position. Naruto felt excitement and tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his teacher. A minute later, Kakashi walked back into the room holding a cherrywood cello and a matched bow on the neck with his right hand. Kakashi sat down the bow and cello, and grabbed a chair. The silver-haired man sat down on the chair and settled the cello between his legs.

"Now, let's began."

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Naruto managed to play the entire scale. After thirty minutes, Kakashi started to drill Naruto with some easy music sheets.

"What's that note?" Naruto asked as he squinted at the music sheet in front of him.

"For the tenth time Naruto, it's a B flat." Kakashi said, in a tired tone.

"Oh." Naruto said as he stopped squinting and grinned sheepishly at his teacher.

"If you can't remember the notes, how are you going to become a good musician?" Kakashi said in a stern voice.

Naruto turned his head slightly to the side, a hint of hurt reflected in his eyes. Kakashi felt some guilt pierce into his gut. _'I can't stay mad at him. Besides, we've just started only 45 minutes ago.' _Kakashi thought as he sighed. Kakashi opened his mouth to apologize, but was cut off.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?" Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto.

"I'll try harder next time!" Naruto said in a confident voice as a bright grin appeared on his face.

Kakashi just stood still, slightly shocked at the burst of confidence from his student. He soon recovered and smiled at Naruto. All Naruto could see was his eye curving into a U-shape. Kakashi turned to the side and looked at the hanging clock behind the register counter. _'3:30 P.M' _Kakashi read. He realized something.

"Naruto, your guardians know that you're taking cello classes, right?" Kakashi asked as he locked gazes at the blonde.

Naruto winced at the thought of his foster parents knowing it. _'They'll probably think it will be too good for me.' _Naruto thought. For some reason, his thoughts turned to Iruka. _'Why am I thinking of Iruka-sensei? I know he did ask me to live with him and-oh shit!' _Naruto sat down the cello and quickly stood up.

"My guardian doesn't know I have lessons here." Naruto said, surprised at himself referring to Iruka as his guardian so easily.

_'But, he is your guardian.'_ A small voice said. _'Until, Mishiba and Koyra __find me.' _Naruto thought as he shivered slightly at the thought of them finding him after a few hours ago.

"Naruto?" Kakashi said, wondering why Naruto is shivering.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Do you know where the phone is? I need to tell my guardian that I'm here." Naruto said.

"Sure. You can use the phone behind the register counter." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded and walked behind the counter. The blonde noticed a small black phone laying on the counter beside him. He took out a small sheet of paper from his back pocket. _'Iruka-sensei's cell phone number.' _Naruto thought as he looked at the series of numbers on the small paper. _'"Just in case something happened."' _Naruto remember Iruka saying that before they went to school. He picked up the phone and began dialing the numbers. After three rings, the phone picked up.

"Hello?" A male voice said, sounding worried about something.

"Hey Iruka-sens-" Naruto began, but was cut off.

"Naruto! Where were you in school?" Iruka shouted with concern into the reciever.

"I uhhh...Kinda skipped school." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head, forgetting that Iruka couldn't see it through the phone.

"You WHAT!"

Naruto took the phone away from his ear from the full blown shout from Iruka. Naruto felt Kakashi's gaze at him, but ignored it.

"Where are you?" Iruka asked.

Naruto felt a tap on his right shoulder and turned. He saw Kakashi looking at him and holding his right hand out.

"Let me talk to him." Kakashi said.

Naruto complied and gave the phone to Kakashi. Kakashi held the phone up to his ear.

"Hello, this is Hatake, Kakashi. I'm Naruto's cello tutor. He had a little trouble in school, so he came to my music shop and is practicing with his cello." Kakashi explained.

"...Hatake?" Iruka said with a shocked voice.

"Huh? Iruka?" Kakashi said with the exact shocked voice as Iruka.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, wondering why did Kakashi sound so surprised talking to Iruka. He squinted his eyes into slits, thinking. Never the less, he kept silent and listened to the conversation.

"Ah, hello Umino! It's been a while since we talked." Kakashi said as his eye curved.

"Yes, it has. I didn't know you owned another music shop." Iruka said.

"Actually, it's the same music shop. I just made some adjustments." Kakashi said.

"Oh, is Naruto still there?" Iruka asked.

"Yes." Kakashi said, seeing Naruto cocking his head to the side with a confused look in his eyes, out of the corner of his eye.

"Tell him I'll pick him up in about thirty minutes. Same location, right?" Iruka said, in a relieved voice.

"Yes. I'll see ya later." Kakashi said as he hung up the phone.

He turned around and saw Naruto with his head still cocking to the side in a cute way. He reminded Kakashi of a fox. _'A small, yellow fox.' _Kakashi joked in his thoughts.

"How do you know Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked his head straight and looking at Kakashi.

"We were college roommates." Kakashi said.

Naruto blinked in surprise. _'College roommates?' _Naruto thought, thinking of Kakashi being younger and in college. A small blush appeared across his cheeks as he imagined it. _'No, no! Bad thoughts! Why am I even thinking about that?!' _Naruto mentally bashed his head. Kakashi looked curiously at Naruto.

"Naruto?"

"Eh-Huh?" Naruto said, trying to fight off the blush across his cheeks, he was losing.

"Let's continue our lesson until Iruka comes." Kakashi said as he looked into the file cabinets behind the register counter.

Naruto nodded and walked back to the chairs. He sat back down and rested the cello between his legs. The blonde waited fro his teacher, wondering what he's going to do. Kakashi found what he was looking for and closed the file cabinets. He walk towards Naruto and handed him two pieces of sheet music.

"This music is called _'Symphony No. 4 Final'_. Let's see if you can play it." Kakashi said.

Naruto looked at the notes and his mouth was dropped opened. _'I can't do that! I've only started playing forty five minutes ago!' _Naruto shouted in his brain. He looked at Kakashi with a shocked look on his face.

"I can't play that!" Naruto said.

"It's actually easier than it looks." Kakashi said as he sat down the chair across from Naruto.

Naruto continued to look at him with a shocked look on his face, not believing what his teacher was saying.

"Don't worry. I'll help you step by step." Kakashi said as his eye curved in a ressurring way.

Naruto nodded slightly, looking at the notes on the music sheets again. The blonde fingered the notes and looked back at Kakashi, waiting for him to tell him to begin. Kakashi began showing the speed and to the notes on the music with his cello. Naruto closed his eyes and listened carefully as Kakashi played the music. The blonde almost forgot to listen to the notes and just enjoyed the music.

"Wow!" Naruto said loudly as he grinned brightly when Kakashi finished playing the music.

"Thank you, but did you listen to the notes?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye curving at the compliment.

"Yeah!" Naruto said cheerfully as he looked at the notes on the music sheets in front of him.

Kakashi nodded and began talking about the notes. Naruto listened carefully and actually played the notes on the cello instead of fingering it. At first, there were many mistakes that were clear to the person's hearing, but Kakashi listened throughout Naruto's playing and then, told him how to correct his mistakes. Soon, Naruto played the notes smoothly, though sometimes he messed up a note.

Kakashi looked at Naruto as the blonde concentrated on the music notes. _'He has greatly improved for his first lesson.' _Kakashi thought, impressed with Naruto. He saw Naruto's eyes brighten as he heard no mistakes in the music as he played.

"Yes! I did it!" Naruto shouted happily as he wore a grin that practically covered half of his face.

"Congratulations. You did make it through without mistakes." Kakashi said, his eye curving at the sight of his happy student.

The front door opened, and a man stepped into the store.

"Hi Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted, as he waved at Iruka with the bow in his hand.

"Hey Naruto." Iruka said as he smiled at Naruto, relief spread throughout his body.

Kakashi and Iruka looked at each other and smiled.

"Hello Hatake." Iruka greeted.

"You know you could just call me Kakashi, Iruka." Kakashi said, knowing that Iruka will still stick to the formalities.

"Well, Naruto let's go." Iruka said, changing the subject as he looked at Naruto.

Naruto nodded, feeling slight disappointment that the lesson was over. He got out of the chair and held his cello with his right hand. He turned and looked at Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I leave my cello here?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." Kakashi replied, wondering why his student would want to leave his cello here, but ignored the thought.

Naruto grinned and handed Kakashi his cello. _'Hopefully now, Mishiba and Koyra won't know about my cello.' _Naruto thought as he looked at Kakashi. Kakashi took the cello and goes walked into the storage room. A few seconds later, Kakashi came out with 'Icha Icha Paradise' book in his right hand. Iruka glared at Kakashi for reading the book in front of Naruto.

"I'll talk to you soon Hatake." Iruka said as he walked towards the front door.

"See you later Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said as he waved at his teacher.

Kakashi waved back, his head still buried into his book.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Two weeks later, Naruto has slowly making friends in school. His first friend (besides Kiba) was Shikamaru. Although, he was lazy, he had an I.Q that is higher than even the teachers in the school. The next person was Chouji, a large boy who loves eating potato chips. He met Shikamaru in the 1st grade and has been best friends with him ever since. Then there's Shino, a tall silent boy that has a small obsession with bugs. He never talks, unless a question is directed to him or when he has to talk.

The last one was surprisingly Gaara. It all started last week. Unfortunately, Orochimaru was feeling evil that week and wanted to scare Naruto. So, he paired him with Gaara for a science project. It took Naruto a few hours before he finally talked to Gaara about the project. Gaara, was surprisingly not giving him glares (except when he was shouting) or threatening to kill the blonde. Naruto still felt a small tugging feeling that he and Gaara had met before, but there's a blank in his mind that stops him from remembering.

As Naruto maked friends, he's also been careful about avoiding Sasuke and Neji. He wouldn't have been avoiding most of their talks if it weren't for his friends and Iruka. While at home, or Iruka's apartment, Iruka listened to Naruto about Mishiba and Kyora. He decides to send a form to the adoption agency for a request to have Naruto under his care.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Naruto have grew closer and closer to each other. From time to time, Kakashi would invite Naruto for some ramen, which of course, the blonde said yes. Kakashi would always admit to himself that he enjoyed talking to Naruto and watching him. While, Naruto felt the same thing, he felt comfortable around him. Naruto's life started like hell, now it's peaceful, not everything is perfect, but calm for now.

Then everything started collapse.

The alarm clock screeched, echoing in the room. Naruto raised his hand and slammed it onto the snooze button of the screeching alarm clock. The alarm clock stopped its screech. Naruto groaned as he sat up, lifting his arm to rub his eyes from the sleep. He stood up and walked out of the room and into the bathroom. He walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. He changed into his uniform and walked towards the kitchen.

He noticed a small plate of food on the dinner table. He looked around again and saw a small yellow note being held by a magnet on the refrigerator. He curiously walked towards the note and took it off the magnet. The note read:

**Naruto,**

**Went to school early to do paperwork. Breakfast on table. **

**Iruka**

He looked at the plate of food and tossed the note into the trash. He grabbed the plate of food and placed it into the microwave. He pushed the buttons and the microwave began to heat the food. He heard a small ringing of the phone in the living room and walked into the living room. He grabbed the ringing phone and pushed the talk button at the left corner of the phone.

"Hello?" Naruto said, hearing the microwave beep three times, but ignored it.

"Naruto?" A male voice asked, his voice had small hints of panic in it.

"Kakashi-sensei? What happened?" Naruto asked, wondering what had happened.

Five simple words, and Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

"Iruka is in the hospital."

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: Please leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm SO sorry it took so long to update! T.T I was surprised that I had over 70 reviews! -Hugs everyone- I'm so happy ! XD Since there were so many reviews, I tried to make this chapter a bit longer for you guys!**

**I'd like to thank astarte lea for being my beta :D**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"W-What?" Naruto managed to get out through the phone.

"Ha-ha, very funny Kakashi-sensei. That was a funny joke," Naruto said, trying to believe that Kakashi was lying.

"Naruto, if you don't believe me, then watch channel 2," Kakashi said.

Naruto snatched the remote and turned on the television, with the phone still in his hand. He switched the channel to two and saw a female news reporter. Behind her was Inra St., where Naruto and Iruka always pass by when going to Konoha High. There were some tire scratches and bits of blood splattered on the road. Police cars were there, trying to fend off curious people from entering the scene. It was then; the reporter started to speak.

"We're here live on Inra Street, where a man was badly injured by a car. According to the witnesses, they said the car incident was a hit and run. Also, two people, one male and one female supported that inside the car."

The reporter was stopped by a police officer, who whispered something into her ear.

"We've just been notified about the victim's name." The reporter paused to take a breath.

_'It not Iruka. It's not Iruka. It's not Iruka.'_ Naruto chanted in his thoughts.

"His name is Umino, Iruka."

And Naruto fell on his knees, his eyes filled with disbelief and sadness.

"Naruto? Are you there?" Kakashi said through the receiver, his voice hiding concern.

Naruto ignored the calls, and continued to stare at the television _'It can't be Iruka! It just can't!'_ Naruto shouted in his thoughts. The blonde tried to move, but his body wouldn't allow him. He tried again, but failed. _'Dammit body, move!'_ Naruto yelled in his thought, a tear fell at his left cheek.

"Naruto? Naruto!" Kakashi said again, trying to get a response from the blonde.

Naruto, again, ignored the calls and continued to stare, his body shaking. He didn't notice that the phone line was dead, or that two pairs of evil eyes were watching the window he was near at. _'Naruto! Pull yourself together.'_ Naruto thought as he took deep breaths, which ceased his shaking.

Naruto heard footsteps coming near the front door. He silently walked towards the door and looked throught the peep-hole that was on top of the door. Naruto took a sharp breath when he saw the people.

It was his foster father and mother.

_'How did they know I was here?'_ Naruto thought in panic as his eyes widen slightly.

"We need to find that demon quickly or else people will notice us like last time." His foster mother whispered quietly.

_'Last time?' _Naruto thought, then realized something. They were the people that trashed Iruka's apartment a few days ago. Closets were opened, clothes had been scattered onto the floor, and other items were also on the ground; some were broken. It took a while before everything was put back and replaced.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Let's just get that demon so we could get our paycheck." Naruto's foster father said gruffly.

_'What? Paycheck?'_ Naruto thought.

"Yeah, who knew the orphanage would go so far as to pay people just to adopt him," His foster mother snickered slightly.

Naruto stepped back slightly in surprise. His eyes turned from surprise to anger. _'So, they kept me in their hellhole just because the orphanage would pay them!' _Naruto thought in anger, as he curled his fists. His eyes turned from anger to fear when he heard the door know jiggle. Trying to find a place to hide, he raced towards the living room. _'Where am I going to hide?'_ Naruto thought as he heard the doorknob jiggle louder.

The blonde searched around and got an idea. He raced towards the big screen television. The television was on top of a big cherry wood desk that had two shelves on the bottom. Between the television were two CD shelves that were attached to the desk, they were covering an empty space inside. It was wide and tall enough for a short person. He grabbed the front of the left CD shelf and lifted it up.

Naruto heard the door slightly open. He quickly hid himself into the empty space and places the front CD shelf back. All Naruto could see was darkness after he places the front CD shelf back.

He heard some muffled voices and rustles of closets opening and items getting thrown. He held his breath and tensed when he heard their footsteps going closer to him. He heard a curse, probably from his foster father.

"Dammit, he isnt here!" Naruto managed to make out from the muffled voice.

"Wait a second... I think I know where he is." His foster mother said.

Naruto took a breath, but still tensed up as they walked towards the CD shelf from the right, and knocked on the side of it. Hearing an echo, they yanked the front of the CD shelf off, creating a loud thunk on the wooden floor.

"Well what do ya know, this space it big enough for that demon." His foster mother said.

_'Damn, damn, damn!'_ Naruto cursed in his mind. The blonde heard the footsteps and voices grow louder until he could understand the muffles. He held his breath again when the front of the CD shelf started to slowly grow far from him. _'Someone save me, please.' _Naruto prayed in his mind. _'I don't want to go into that hell house.'_

"Who's there?"

The front CD shelf stopped moving and Naruto took a silent breath of relief. The blonde leaned to the front slightly and listened to the conversation.

"Shit! I thought you said no one would come here!" His foster father whispered harshly to his foster mother.

"How was I suppose to know that people would actually come here to see it." His foster mother whispered back, referring 'it' as Naruto.

"I'll say it again, who's there?" A male voice said again.

_'The person must be at the front door, since that's the only place where you can't see the living room.'_ Naruto thought. Naruto heard footsteps come closer to him. The blonde heard whispers of panic from his foster parents and heard footsteps running towards the left, where apartment's emergency exit is.

Another pair of footsteps came to Naruto's right. Naruto stayed still for the moment, listening to the voices.

"They must have gone through the emergency exit. Right now though, we need to find Naruto-kun." A male voice said, different from the first one.

"Hn, how are we going to find him? That Dobe could be anywhere by now," Another male voice replied.

_'Dobe?'_ Naruto thought. He soon realized the owners of the voices. _'Sasuke and Neji? What are they doing here?'_ Naruto thought in slight panic. _'They're the last people I need to meet right now, besides Sakura and Ino.' _

"We still need to go around and see if the people that came here before us did anymore damage here." another male said, the one that saved Naruto.

_I recognize that voice too...'_ Naruto pondered in the darkness. _'But, the actual thing is, should I show myself to Teme and Neji? I don't want them to continue what they did two weeks ago.' _Naruto thought as he shivered slightly at the memory. _'It's a choice.' _A small voice in his mind said._ 'Either you show yourself to them now, or you get caught by your foster parents.' _

_'Well, that sums up my options.'_ Naruto thought sarcastically. He reached his hand into the darkness and knocks the wood in front of him quietly. All of the talking ceased and silence followed. Naruto placed both of his hands in front and pushed slightly. He heard footsteps back away slightly from him, and continued to push.

"Um... Could someone help me?" Naruto said, his eyes still seeing darkness.

"Naruto?" The unknown male voice questioned.

Naruto heard the voice clear enough to know who the person is. _'Kakashi-sensei?' _Naruto thought curiously. The blonde pushed again, and the front fell, making a loud thud on the wooden floor. Naruto squinted at the bright light. After a few blinks, he got use to the light and stepped out of the space.

He saw Neji, Sasuke, and Kakashi staring at him. He grinned sheepishly at them and raised his right arm to rub the back of his head.

"Hi!" Naruto said, not knowing what else to say.

"Are you ok?" Kakashi said, his voice trying to hide his concern.

"Yeah." Naruto lied.

Kakashi eyed him suspiciously. While Neji and Sasuke's shoulders slumped slightly in relief.

"Next time watch out, Dobe." Sasuke said.

"I told you to stop calling me that! Teme." Naruto fumed.

Both of them glared at each other, while Kakashi sweat dropped at the two. Neji just stood there, curious as to what they're going to do next.

"Hey, relax. We need to go, or else people will get suspicious." Kakashi said.

Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other for a few more seconds before crossing their arms and turning their heads away from the other. Kakashi used his index to scratch his masked cheek sheepishly at the two. Once Sasuke and Neji went outside, Kakashi turned to Naruto.

"What happened here?" Kakashi asked.

"N-Nothing! I got just got angry," Naruto lied.

"Naruto. Look around you."

Naruto looked at the living room, and winced at the sight. Closets were opened, magazines and items were scattered on the floor, and the CDs that were on the shelves were crashed into a pile. Every shelf was opened and the clothes in it were either showing a bit in the shelves, or on the ground.

"Naruto, tell me what really happened," Kakashi said.

"...My foster parents came here to look for me," Naruto explained, his shoulders slump in defeat.

Kakashi looked at Naruto with his half-lidded eye. Naruto looked to the side, not wanting to meet the older man's gaze. _'He has been crying.' _Kakashi thought as he continued to stare at Naruto.

"Oi! What are you guys standing there for?" Sasuke shouted at them.

"We need to go to right now if we're going to see Iruka-sensei," Neji said in a calm voice.

Naruto's eyes reflected sadness at the mention of Iruka. Neji looked at Naruto with slight concern in his blank eyes. Sasuke kept his emotionless mask on, but didn't meet eyes with Naruto. Kakashi reached up and ruffled his hair, his eye curving at Naruto.

"Don't worry, Iruka will be fine."

Naruto looked up at Kakashi and showed a small smile. 'Thank you.'

Sasuke and Neji looked at Kakashi with slight jealousy in their eyes. _'There is more competition?' _They both thought curiously as they stared to the two. Once they walked out of the frontyard, Sasuke and Neji turned to Naruto.

"Dobe."

"What is it Teme?" Naruto asked as he cocked his head to the side curiously.

"..."

"Spit it out." Naruto said.

"What Uchiha is trying to say is..." Neji trailed off.

Naruto nodded at both of them, understanding what they're both trying to say. _'At least they tried to apologize.'_ Naruto thought.

"No worries! It's just the past." Naruto said cheerfully, his eyes squinting and a grin appeared in his face.

Both raven-haired boys relaxed, as if a guilt had been released from their shoulders.

"I couldn't believe a dobe like you could have gotten into so much trouble." Sasuke said as looked inside of the house.

"I didn't cause that,...and don't call me Dobe, Teme," Naruto said, his cheeks puffing slightly in a pout.

"Hn," Sasuke replied back, a smirk appeared on his face.

The raven-haired boys walked silently down the streets, with a fuming Naruto next to them. Kakashi was leaning on his black Dodge truck. Sasuke sat in the passenger seat, while Naruto and Neji sat in the back. As they drove off down street, silence following with it. A few minutes later, Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"Hey, how did you guys know where Iruka's apartment is anyways?" Naruto asked as he looked at Sasuke and Neji.

"They didn't. I drove them there," Kakashi answered.

Naruto looked at Kakashi with a confused look on his face.

"Let me start from the beginning," Kakashi said.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback--------------------------------------------------------------------**

_"Naruto! Are you there?" Kakashi said, no longer hiding his concerned voice. _

_"Kuso," Kakashi cursed as he hung up the phone, grabbed his keys, and rushed out of his apartment. As soon as he ran outside, a head collided with his left shoulder. _

_"Hey, watch where you're going," The person said in an arrogant voice. _

_Kakashi looked at the person who said that comment. He saw a pair of black eyes looking up at him with annoyance in his eyes. _'Isn't he one of the people that wanted to find Naruto?' _Kakashi thought, remembering two weeks ago. _

_"Uchiha, we need to go," A male said, standing next to the other boy._

_"Yeah, hold on Hyuuga." The boy that bumped into Kakashi answered._

'A Hyuuga and Uchiha together? Now that's interesting.'_ Kakashi thought. The Hyuugas and Uchihas were not the best of friends. Both of them were big technology companies that were determined to kick each other out of the ranks and go on to the top. People dared to joked that they were yin and yang; Hyuugas having white eyes and Uchihas having black eyes._

_Kakashi looked at his Rolex watch. '8:15 a.m? School has already started. So why aren't they in school?' Kakashi thought curiously._

_"Do you know where Naruto-kun is?" Hyuuga's question broke Kakashi's thought._

_"Why are you asking me?" Kakashi asked, in a slightly cold voice._

_"Because we know you walk with him right after school," The Uchiha stated._

_Sometimes, or when he's not late, Kakashi would wait for Naruto after school and they would walk together to the music shop. '_I was wondering why I always felt someone staring at me.' _Kakashi thought. _

_"I don't know where he is now," Kakashi lied, his eye in his normal half-lidded. _

_"Your lying," Sasuke said, narrowing his onyx eyes at the older man._

_"Why should I tell you anyway? Your the people who tried to rape him," Kakashi said in a calmly and stern as he stared at them with anger in his eye. _

_Both of the boys looked down, invisible shame and guilt weighed on their shoulders._

_"We weren't trying to rape him," Sasuke said as he looked up at Kakashi._

_Kakashi's eye showed a simple sentence : 'I don't believe you.'_

_"We were curious," The Hyuuga started._

_"We wanted to know if Naruto-kun had any bruises on his body, and if he did, we would take him to the nurses office whether he wanted to or not," The Hyuuga explained. _

_Kakashi looked at both of them in the eye. The boys stared back, showing no fear if it's a lie. _'They are telling the truth.'_ Kakashi thought in conclusion. Kakashi broke his intense gaze at them and his eye curved. _

_"Well, I am going to Naruto and Iruka's apartment. You could join me if you like, and apologize to Naruto," Kakashi said._

_"But, if you hurt Naruto again..."_

_"We won't. If we do, we'll personally let you hit us," The Hyuuga said. _

_"Alright. I almost forgot, my name is Hatake, Kakashi." Kakashi said._

_"Hyuuga, Neji."_

_"Uchiha, Sasuke."_

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------End of Flashback-----------------------------------------------------------**

As Kakashi finished explaining, they arrived at the hospital. The four guys slowly got out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the hospital. The blonde looked at the hospital. The hospital was painted white like any normal hospital, except it had a big green leaf sign at the center instead of a red cross. They also had a huge front yard that was more like a park.

The front yard had fountain where the sun glowed, creating a peaceful atmosphere. You also see nurses wheeling patients through paths and having conversations with them. There were even some kids running around, having fun, or talking with the patients.

The boys entered the hospital and walked towards the front desk. A woman around her late 20's with long brown hair and blue eyes looked at them curiously.

"How may I help you?" The lady said in a gentle voice.

"Do you know which room Umino, Iruka is?" Kakashi said, his eye curving.

"Let me check," The woman said.

The woman faced the computer and typed in Umino, Iruka. A few seconds later, there was a beep and the lady looked at them.

"He's in room 203, you can go visit him now," The lady said with a smile.

"Thank you," Kakashi said.

All four boys walked towards the silver colored elevator. Naruto reached up and pressed 'Floor 2' and the door slowly shut itself, beginning to move itself higher. Everything was silent except the elevator music. It stayed silent until they reached the 2nd floor. The elevator door opened and the boys walked out in a quiet pace.

They reached to room 203 with silence. Naruto slowly took a step forward, while the rest of the boys waited for him to go in. Naruto inhaled and exhaled as he grasped the copper knob, feeling a slight surge of fear of what's in the room._ 'Maybe Iruka-sensei is all bloody, or covered in bandages, or-' _Naruto's thought was cut off when a large hand was placed on his left shoulder.

Naruto looked at his left and saw Kakashi's eye curving at him, saying a secret message: 'We're here for you.' Naruto looked behind him and saw Neji and Sasuke nodding at him, telling him that he wasn't alone in this. The blonde relaxed, feeling fear being replaced by happiness at the support given to him.

_'Alright! Then let's see how Iruka-sensei is doing!' _Naruto thought with new strength of confidence in his crystal blue eyes. He turned to knob and slowly push in. All four of them walked inside.

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**A/N: --; I keep changing the pace of the story from fast to slow to fast all the time! XI I'm trying to make the pace of the story a little slower. Again, sorry it took so long to update! My parents and I are starting to move into our new apartment. (Yay: )**

**And please R&R!**


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I finished chapter 6! XD I had fun typing this chapter (in a strange way -.-;) Anyways, I have my own computer at apartment now! (FINALLY!) So, I don't need to use my friends now :) (Yay!) -blushes- I can't believe someone post this story on a c2 called **Best YAOI Naruto fics. **I never thought my fic would be THAT good. (I always thought my fics were slightly below average compare to the others)

Anyways, I'd like to thank **astarte lea** for being my beta!

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White was all Naruto could see. The bed was white. The walls were white. Hell, even the flowers in the vase on the desk were white. The white walls made the atmosphere feel as if they were going to suffocate everyone in the room. The only sound that was in the room were the beeps from the heart moniter, and the small breaths coming out from the people in the room. _'Did I step into the Twilight Zone?' _Naruto thought nervously.

The blonde noticed Iruka laying on the white colored bed in front of him. He felt Neji, Sasuke, and Kakashi tense once they walked into the room. Naruto slowly walked towards Iruka, the white polished floor clicking at Naruto's every footstep. He soon stood at the side of Iruka's bed. Iruka's healthy tanned skin was replaced by a pale white that looked unnatural on him.

The white sheet covering him was making him look even more like a ghost. His chest was slowly moving up and down, showing that he was asleep. There were bandages on his left arm and around his forehead. Blood was seeping under some bandages. Naruto raised his left tanned hand and grabbed the white chair on his left.

He sat quietly on the chair, held Iruka's left hand, and continued to stared at his sleeping teacher. Soon, Naruto looked around the room and at the guys behind him, who were also waiting for Iruka to wake up. After a few minutes, his teacher slowly opened his eyes. Naruto smiled happily at Iruka.

Only to find half-lidded eyes staring at him with a dead look.

A flash of fear apeared in his blue eyes. A memory from the past haunted in his brain. _'It's not the time to think about that!' _Naruto shouted in his mind.

But his brain ignored his shouts, and started his memories of 6 years ago.

---------------------------------------------------------**Flashback**---------------------------------------------------------------------

_Ten-year old Naruto slowly opened his bedroom door, curious about the shouts outside his bedroom. Especially at 12:00 in the morning. He never expected people to be lying on the ground, their faces facing towards the ground and a red pool of liquid around them. _'Why are there people on the ground? Isn't it uncomfortable sleeping like that?' _Naruto thought innocently. _'Maybe they were too tired to go to their beds.' _The young boy slowly walked towards a lying man that was next to him._

_"Hey Mister. Wake up." Naruto said as he pushed gently on the man's back. _

_He soon felt something warm and wet on his hand. He held his hand upright and saw red liquid covering his palm. _'What is this?' _Naruto thought as he curiously looked at the substance. He lifted it to his nose and smelled it. The blonde scrunched up his face in disgust. _'Ewwww. It smells bad.' _He took his hand away from his face, and gently pulled the man over, to see his face._

_He didn't expect to see the face to be covered in the red substance and a pair of lifeless eyes staring at him in a horrified_ _expression. Naruto immediately let go of the body, causing the body to flip back to the same position. _'What is going to on?' _Naruto thought, his mind filled with confusion and fear. _

_Then he realized something. He raised his hand towards his face and inspected the red subsatnce again. He knew what it was now._

'Blood'

_"Naruto..."_

_Naruto snapped his head away from his hand and quickly turned at the eerie call of his name. At the door in front of Naruto was Kyuubi. Kyuubi was his uncle that took him under his wing when his parents died. He was his father's older brother, or so the adoption agency and Kyuubi said. _

_Kyuubi had playful brown eyes that Naruto always liked, but they looked so dead and hollow right now in front of Naruto. His red waist-length hair that was always pulled into a low pony tail, was now in a high pony tail and had bits of blood attached to his hair._

_His sharp face was now covered with dry crusted blood. Kyuubi's clothes were also covered in the red substance. Kyuubi slowly walked towards Naruto in a dazed movement, almost as if he were sleep walking. Naruto just stood there, paralyzed in fear as his uncle came closer to him._

_"Naruto..." Kyuubi said again as he reached his right hand towards Naruto, while still walking._

"Naruto."

_"You'll always be with me ."_

"Naruto!"

_"Right here with me..."_

"NARUTO!"

----------------------------------------------------**End of Flashback-------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto snapped his mind away from the gruesome memory as he looked into a pair of black eyes that were looking up at him.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Iruka asked as he squeezed Naruto's hand gently.

"Eh, yeah!" Naruto said, masking his feelings with a cheerful reply.

"Iruka-sensei. How are you doing?" Neji asked quietly.

"I'm doing fine, but shouldn't you guys be in school right now?" Iruka stated as he looked at the white hanging clock in front of him, which read 12:00 P.M.

"Oh yeah, ehheheheh." Naruto said, as he laughed nervously, while scratching the back of his head with his right hand.

Sasuke and Neji tensed when they looked at the clock. _'Shit, Itachi is going to kill me.' _Sasuke thought._'I'm going to have to explain to father why I skipped school.' _Neji thought as he let out a muted sigh.

"But, we wanted to see you Iruka-sensei." Naruto said.

"Then, you could have visited me tomorrow." Iruka said.

"We could have, but we want to know what kind of damage did _they _had caused to you." Sasuke said.

A small cough was heard, and all of the guys turned their heads.

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While Naruto was having his flashback, Gaara was looking at Naruto through the open door; that the boys forgotton to close. _'I knew he would be here.' _Gaara thought. There were two older people on either side of him.

"Brother, you need to tell him soon." Temari said, her voice having slight fear over her younger brother.

"Temari's right." Kankuro commented, with the same fear as Temari.

"Don't you think I know that already?" Gaara said coldly, making Temari and Kankuro flinch.

"We can't tell him _now_." Gaara seethed.

"O-Of course!" Temari stuttered with an uneasy smile, while Kankuro stayed silent.

Gaara made a sound on the back of his throat and continued to look at Naruto. _'His face.' _Gaara thought, noticing Naruto's reaction when Iruka was half-awake. _'It's almost the same expression as last time.' _

_"Gaara! Help!"_

Gaara mentally flinched at the voice and how it echoed in his mind. _'I had no choice.' _Gaara thought, his mind trying to block the memories. _'It was either; I had to leave, or have him get assassinated.' 'You still could have done something.' _A small voice in the back of his mind said. _'You should have moved instead of standing there like a statue while they took you away from him.' _

Temari stood still and silent as her younger brother battled with his thoughts. _'What is he thinking?' _Temari wondered, while Kankuro was thinking the same thing.

"Temari, Kankuro. We're leaving." Gaara stated in a commanding tone.

Temari and Kankuro nodded silently and walked down the halls. Gaara looked at Naruto once more. Naruto had a fake cheerful mask on his face. _'I'll tell him, when he is ready and the time is right.' _Gaara thought as he walked down the white empty halls.

----------------------------------------------**Back to Naruto and the others**---------------------------------------------------------

"Excuse me for the interruption, but I need to check on how Iruka is doing." The man behind the others explained as he closed the door behind him.

The man was wearing brown trousers and a black shirt. He also had a white coat that usual doctors had, and white gloves. He had brown eyes, blonde hair, and appeared to be in his early 30's.

"Oh yes, of course." Kakashi said, his eye curving as he stepped to the side.

The three boys mimicked Kakashi. The doctor smiled and walked towards Iruka, until he saw someone that made him stop walking.

"_YOU_!" The doctor seethed in anger as he pointed at Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto said in confusion.

"How were you even allowed in here!" The doctor said furiously.

"What is the problem doctor?" Neji asked, wondering why the man was aiming his anger at Naruto.

"He's the problem!" The doctor said as he continued to point at Naruto.

"I will not examine Iruka until _it's _out!" The doctor continued.

"What did the Dobe do to you?" Sasuke said, annoyance and anger were clear in his voice.

"_It_ doesn't deserve to be in hospital after what happened 10 years ago!" The doctor said in anger, clearly not knowing that he was talking to an Uchiha, a Hyuuga, and one of the best cello players in history.

_'Ten years ago?' _Sasuke thought, while Neji tried to find what history had happened 10 years ago. Kakashi curled his fists in anger at the doctor's statement.

"I'll leave." Naruto said, ignoring the glare he was recieving from the doctor.

"But-" Sasuke started, but was cut off.

"Don't worry Teme! Everything's fine. I was about to leave anyway." Naruto said as he grinned.

"Get well soon, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as he walked out of the room.

Once Naruto was out of the room, he heard some quiet voices coming out of the room and a shaky reply from the doctor. _'What did they say to the doctor?' _Naruto thought curiously as he walked down the hall. While Naruto pondered walking down the hall, he crashed into a huge set of breasts.

"Sorry." Naruto mumble as he looked up.

"Eh? Granny Tsunade?" Naruto said loudly.

Tsunade was Konoha High's school nurse and she was very good at her job. One time, their was an incident where a freshman got 4 of his ribs broken in a fight against a sophomore student. Tsunade quickly did surgery and patched the injury before the ambulance came. She had long blond hair that was always tied into two pony tails, brown eyes, and was surprisingly in her early 50's. She had done major surgery on her face and body so that she would look like she's in her 20's.She was also very good friends with Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

But, there was something Naruto forgot about Tsunade.

"You little brat! Don't you have any respect?" Tsunade said as she whacked the top of Naruto's head hard.

Oh yeah! Tsunade had monsterous strength that could relate to a perfessional boxer.

"Ow!" Naruto said as he sat flat on the ground at the impact, while rubbing the top of his head.

"So brat, were you here to see Iruka?" Tsunade said as Naruto stood up.

"Yeah! I just visited him and I'm going home now." Naruto said with a grin on his face.

"Why are you here Old Hag?" Naruto said, ignoring the vein that appeared at the corner of Tsunade's forehead.

"I work here part time." Tsunade explained.

_'Oh yeah!' _Naruto thought. Tsunade worked here part time as a doctor. When she's not working at school, another nurse named Shizune replaces her. She's not as good as Tsunade, but she's still a better nurse than other school nurses.

"I need to go now. I'll see you later, Old Hag!" Naruto said as he walked past Tsunade.

"Be careful brat." Tsunade said as she waved at the walking Naruto.

Naruto walked outside the hospital and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He looked at his frog watch, which read 1:30 P.M. _'School's almost over. Might as well go home and eat some ramen!' _Naruto thought cheerfully as he headed to his apartment.

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A/N: - There goes a bit of Naruto's past (and TINY bit of Gaara's). So, you guys know something is going on XD BUT, I won't tell much until later chapters -crackles evily- AND, Sakura and Ino will be in the next chapters. May bash them or not...

What the fuck am I thinking? Of course I'm going to bash them! XD Anyways, PLEASE leave a review! Or else I'll pair Naruto with Sasuke or Neji (yeah right: D


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wahhhhh! -Hides- please don't hurt me! I'm SOOOOO sorry it took so long for me to update! I had a HUGE writer's block and AND school is starting in a couple of days (in some places, it already started T.T). **

**Also, there WILL be Sakura-bashing in this chapter (well actually, Sakura being evil). So, watch out Sakura fans! Also, I can't decide if I should add a lemon in this story. So, I'll let you guys vote for it! Also, I won't make this a SasuNaru (too much fanfics about them anyway) OR a NejiNaru. **

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Naruto walks up the stairs of both his and Iruka's apartment. He grabs the apartment keys from his back pocket and opens his front door. The blonde closes the door quietly and went straight to the kitchen. He opened the high shelves at his right and grabbed a bowl of instant ramen.

He heard his empty stomache growl for food as he placed the ramen into the microwave. He pressed one of the buttons on the microwave and waited for the microwave to heat the ramen. Naruto looked at the clock hanging on the wall at his left. _'2:00 P.M' _Naruto read. His thoughts suddently turned to Gaara. _'Argh! Where have I seen him before?' _Naruto thought in frustration as he hit his forehead on the table.

"Ow!" Naruto shouted as he quickly sat up and rubbed his forehead.

Something suddenly appeared in his mind.

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback-----------------------------------------------**

_Ten year old Naruto sat on a broken swing that was far from the playground, silently waiting for his best friend. _'I wonder what he wanted to talk about.' _Naruto thought curiously as he looked around the deserted playground. It was 5:00 P.M and the sun was starting to set. _

_The sun was slowly setting, illuminating the skies with red, pink, and orange colors. Naruto looked at the glowing sun with wide eyes. _

_"Wow..." Naruto trailed off._

_The blonde heard small and quiet footsteps coming towards him, but he was too amazed by the sunset to notice it._

_"Naruto." A very quiet voice called out to him._

**---------------------------------------------------------------End of Flashback---------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto snapped back to reality when the microwaved sounded with three beeps. Naruto walked towards the microwave and took the steaming bowl of ramen out. _'What was that?' _Naruto thought, thinking about the flashback. _'It felt like a flashback, but I remembered I never met anyone that noticed me after what happened 5 years ago.'_

He sat the ramen on the kitchen table. Naruto grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks from a drawer and sat down. _'Well, right now's not the time to be worrying. Ramen will taste bad if that happens.' _Naruto thought as he scowled at the thought of raman tasting bad.

"Time to eat!" Naruto shouted happily as he opened the lid, picked up the bowl, and began eating.

In 2 minutes, Naruto finished eating. He sat the bowl down and licked his lips in enjoyment of his lunch. _'Now what am I going to do?' _Naruto thought as he picked up the empty bowl and threw it into the trash can from his chair.

Failing to think of something to do, Naruto sat up and walked into the living room to watch T.V

**-----------------------------------------The Next Day------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto groaned as he slammed on his screeching alarm clock. He sat up and glared at his fox shaped clock. Taking his gaze from his poor clock, he stretched his arms and legs and yawns. He got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom in his usual sluggish movement. A few minutes later, Naruto came downstairs feeling refresh and wearing his uniform.

He walked to the kitchen, ate ramen, and walked out of the apartment with his backpack on one of his shoulders. Fifteen minutes later, Naruto walked into his first period class and immediately felt many gazes towards him. He tried his best to ignore the uncomfortable gaze and walked towards the back of the class, where his friends were waiting for him.

"We heard what happened yesterday, Naruto." Lee said when Naruto stepped in front of them.

"Where were you though?" Kiba asked.

"I went to the hospital to see Iruka-sensei." Naruto said as he sat at the desk at his right, next to Shikamaru.

"...How is Iruka-sensei?" Shino said in his usual quiet voice.

"He's fine." Naruto simply said.

"Wonder why would anyone would hurt Iruka-sensei." Chouji said as he continued to eat a new flavor of chips: Nori (dry seaweed).

"Hmm...I can't really think of Iruka-sensei in any kind of trouble at all." Kiba said.

"Maybe-" Lee started, but was cut off.

"Naruto!"

Naruto winced at the female voice calling to him. _'I know that voice.' _Naruto thought. He soon felt something stand behind him, it's shadow nearly covering him. His nose was assulted with overdosed perfume. Naruto practicely held his breath from the heavy perfume and slowly turned his head, fearing who it is.

"H-Hey Sakura." Naruto said, letting out a shakey smile.

"Could I talk to you for a moment _Naruto_. Alone?" Sakura said, stretching out his name in with her overly fake sweet voice.

"Why can't you say it here?" Kiba said, knowing that not Naruto, nor anyone, wanted to speak to the pink-haired girl alone.

"Because it's personal." Sakura said as she glared at Kiba.

"Hello Sakura!" Lee said, love in his bug-shaped eyes directing at Sakura.

"I'll just borrow Naruto for a moment." Sakura said, totally ignoring Lee's love struck gaze and dragged Naruto outside in a vice grip.

"Hey! Wh-" Naruto started once they were outside, but was interrupted.

"Listen you." Sakura seethed, her emerald eyes glaring deathly into his surprised ceruleans.

"You better stay away from Sasuke 'cause he's mine." Sakura said.

Naruto winced as Sakura digged her ugly red painted nails into his right arm. His nose again was assulted by the pink-haired girl's overdosed perfume, but now, it was also starting to burn slightly in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto said, total confusion in his eyes.

"I see how you flirt with him AND Neji in classes." Sakura said, her voice laced with vemon.

"What! I don't flirt with them!" Naruto said, clearly thinking that Sakura had totally lost her mind.

"Pfft, right! Anyways, just stop the way your talking or doing to them or else." Sakura said, continuing to glare at Naruto.

"Or else what? I don't live next to you anymore. So, you can't really do something to me when you don't know where I live." Naruto barked back, a feeling of annoyance starting to rise.

"Oh, I know where you live." Sakura said in a sly voice.

"If you don't stop flirting with Sasuke, I'll tell your _friends _about your past." Sakura said, an evil glint appeared in her eyes.

Naruto stood still, staring at the girl in front of him. _'How did she know? I remember my foster parents were never to tell about what happened after they adopted me.' _Naruto thought, a shiver of fear ran down his spine.

"Wait, how did you know that?" Naruto asked.

"I have my sources." Sakura fired back.

_'She probably did a blowjob for the guy.' _Naruto thought. He shook his right arm away from Sakura's death grip. Naruto glared at the pink haired girl. As Naruto walked back into the class, he saw Sakura smirk in the corner of his eye. Once Naruto was in the room, he went straight back to his friends.

"So, what did the slut want?" Kiba asked, ignoring a glare from Lee.

"Nothing much, except she thinks I'm flirting with Sasuke and Neji." Naruto said.

"What!" Kiba shouted, while Shikamaru lifted his head and glared at Kiba for being so loud.

"Kiba! Quiet!" Naruto whispered harshly at his friend, feeling almost all of the students staring at them.

"You, flirting with Ice Prick and Work-A-Holic Boy!" Kiba said with a chuckle in his throat, but quieted down (barely).

"Flirting with them is like flirting with a wall!" Kiba added.

"Kiba, be quiet. I'm trying to sleep here. So troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, but I can't believe Sakura even thought of accusing Blonde here of flirting with _them_." Kiba said as he pointed at Sasuke and Neji sitting near the windows.

Shikamaru sticked his pinky in his right ear, showing as if he was going to be deaf from the shouts. Naruto glared at Kiba for shouting what about what happened with him and Sakura. _'I should've kept my mouth shut.' _Naruto thought as he groaned.

"Anyways, don't listen to Sakura. She AND Ino have a weird mind." Kiba said, finally not shouting.

Lee and Chouji glared at Kiba for insulting their crushes.

"What? They do!" Kiba said.

The bell rang, signaling that Period 1 has started.

**-------------------------------------------------------------Period 5: Gym-----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto walked into the boy's locker room. He walked towards his locker and quickly changed into his gym wear. He felt a pair of eyes boring into the back of his head. He turns around and looks into a pair of ebony eyes.

"What?" Naruto asked, clearly annoyed at all the stares he was getting today.

"What did Sakura say to you?" Sasuke asked, in a demanding voice.

"Nothing!" Naruto replied.

"What did she say?" Sasuke asked again.

"Nothing!" Naruto repeated, feeling his right eye twitch in annoyance .

"If Naruto says that it's nothing, then it's nothing. Can you understand that Uchiha?" A voice behind the said, mocking Uchiha in the last sentence.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and quickly turned to the voice.

"Hey, Neji!" Naruto greeted the older boy.

"Hyuuga, this does not concern you." Sasuke growled out, giving pale-eyed boy his famous Uchiha glare.

"Actually, it does Uchiha." Hyuuga fired back, glaring back at Sasuke.

Tension began rising quickly between the two. Soon, the tension was so thick, everyone in the locker room quickly changed and rushed out of the room. Naruto sweatdropped at the glaring boys in front of him.

"Hey, guys-" Naruto started, but was cut off.

Unfortunately, a white jacket was in front of Naruto on the ground. Naruto took a step on the jacket and tripped.

He soon fell towards Neji.

Everything was slow motion, as if time slowed down. While Neji stood still, Sasuke reached out his arms to grab the falling blonde.

He missed by a few inches.

"Aaah!" Naruto shouted as he landed on top of Neji, who fell back at the impact.

Somehow, as if Kami or someone up in the heavens was laughing at them, Neji and Naruto locked lips. Both of the boys' eyes widen in shock, while Sasuke's right eye twitched at the scene in front of him. Suddently, a boy appeared in front of the locker room door. He looked around, as if searching for something.

"Hey! There's my jacket!" The boy said happily as he looked at the white jacket that caused Naruto's fall.

The boy didn't see Naruto and Neji's kiss because they were facing the back of the room. Sasuke's glare was immediately on the boy. The boy stood nervously at the boy's glare, and wondering why Sasuke was glaring at him. Never the less, the boy quickly grabbed the jacket from the ground and left.

Naruto got up after the boy left and a deep blush was across his cheeks. Neji also got up, and he was blushing slightly. _'Damn, Neji got the Dobe's first kiss!' _Sasuke thought furiously as he glared at Neji, who was now slightly smirking.

"U-Uh y-yeah, ummm. H-Hey, Neji." Naruto stuttered, still blushing.

"What is it Naruto?" Neji asked innocently.

Sasuke's eye started to twitch at Neji's tune of voice. _'Something bad is going to happen.' _Sasuke thought. _'Hyuuga, Neji sounding innocent proves it.' _Soon, they heard footsteps coming towards them.

"Yosh! My youthful student! Why aren't you outside and enjoying your flames of youth with the other youthful students?" Their gym teacher, Gai, said loudly in front of the trio.

Gai was...interesting. He and Lee had the exact hair and almost the same personality, except Gai talked more about youths. People at first will think that they were father and son, that wasn't true until a few months ago when Gai decided to adopt Lee.

"Sorry Gai-sensei. We lost track of time." Neji said.

"No need to apologize! You youths should enjoy the time you guys have!" Gai said as he gave them his youth smile.

"Now, let's get you guys outside!" Gai said as he pushed the boys out of the locker room.

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**A/N: -Looks at the glaring reviewers- Please don't hurt me! -Hides again- I know some people are pissed at me for giving Neji Naruto's first kiss, but I had to! XP **

**Anyways, a few days ago, I read a Naruto forum in and came across reding about Sakura bashings. It got me thinking. Soon, I decided, I won't make this story a TOTAL Sakura-bashing. Instead, I'll try and tell a bit about Sakura's life.**

**...Even though she's my most hated female character in anime. XD Anyways, PLEASE leave a review 'cause I need to know if people are still reading this story.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: . -falls onto the ground- I FINALLY finished this chapter! To tell you guys, there will be NO GaaNaru pairing in this -hides- This will be explained in the next chapter! -laughs evily- Also, this is kind of an apology for the shortness and no Kakashi in chapter 7 T.T**

**Anyways, here's chapter 8! XD**

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A bell rang in 'Konoha High' signaling that school had ended. Immediately, students rushed out of the school's front entrance. Some were taking deep breaths of the fresh air, and others were walking with their friends. Naruto did neither of the two, he was too lost in thought about the kiss in the boy's locker room.

_'My first kiss...was from Neji!' _Naruto thought, repeating the sentence over and over for the last hour and thirty minutes._ 'I can't believe that my first kiss was from a boy!' _Naruto thought, pulling his spiky hair in frustration. _'It's not like I have a problem with gay relationships, but I always thought I would have my first kiss with a girl!'_ Naruto thought, glaring at the ground in front of him.

"Naruto?"

Naruto snapped back to reality and looked at the person who called him.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, grinning at the red-head.

"..." Gaara stood silent, looking at the ground.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, curiosity in his cerulean eyes.

"Do you..." Gaara trailed off, feeling an emotion he hadn't felt in over ten years.

Nervous.

"Spill it." Naruto said, pouting at Gaara who was staring at the ground.

"Do you...Do you want to go to the mall?" Gaara asked, looking at Naruto face to face.

Naruto looked at Gaara with a surprised look on his face. _'Say yes.' _Gaara thought, feeling slighty nervous, but hid it with his emotionless mask. _'Woah!'_ Naruto thought, still having a surprised look on his face. Seems like everyone was full of surprises today. After a few seconds, Naruto gave Gaara a small grin.

"Sorry Gaara, but I have cello lesson in a few minutes. How about tomorrow?" Naruto asked, grinning brightly at Gaara on the last sentence.

Gaara nodded, feeling slightly disappointed, but glad that he and Naruto were going tomorrow. _'Nervous, disappoint, happy.'_ Gaara thought. _'I never expected to feel emotions ever again.'_

"I'll meet you at the entrance of the mall at 3:00 P.M tomorrow! See ya!" Naruto said as he walked and waved at Gaara.

Gaara only nodded to the blonde as he walked off. _'Tomorrow it is then.'_ Gaara thought as he also walked off. _'That will be the day when I will tell him his whole past.' _

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Naruto stepped in front of 'Kakashi's Music Store' entrance door. He opened the door and stepped in. _'As usual, Kakashi-sensei isn't here.' _Naruto thought as he sighed in the empty store. _'Why can't he be on time for once?' _Naruto walked towards the door in the back. 'Might as well practice while he's not here.' Naruto thought as he opened the door and entered.

The room was in the back was a storage room for every kind of instument in the world. All the way from Uh from Korean to the famous Sanxian from China. The storage room was, of course, huge. Only employees can enter the room, but Naruto was an exception because no one wanted to wait for an hour for Kakashi to arrive and get their cello.

Naruto went to the back and stood in front of a small see-through glass case. Inside the glass was his cello. Naruto pulled a set of keys from his back pocket and opened the case. He gently grasped the neck of the cello and pulled it out of the case along with the bow.

The blonde walked out of the storage room and sat the cello down near the center of the room. He grabbed a music sheet from his back pack and grabbed a chair and stand. He sat down on the chair and settled the cello between his legs. He tuned his cello and grabbed the music sheets from the ground and sat them on the metal stand.

Naruto began practicing _"Brandenburg Concerto No.4 in G major"._ He immediately sped up after the first note. His eyes were following the notes on the sheets and his fingers were playing on the strings in a slightly fast pace. Three minutes later, Naruto finished playing the music.

"You forgot to rest at the beginning."

Naruto snapped his head up and saw Kakashi leaning against the counter with his 'Icha Icha Paradise' book in his left hand.

"Your late!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at Kakashi.

"Ahh, only a few minutes." Kakashi said, waving at Naruto with his right hand while still reading the orange book.

Naruto looked at the hanging clock and noticed it was 4:05 P.M. _'He's actually not late for an hour today.'_ Naruto thought, a surprised look in his face.

"Why are you earlier than usual?" Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi with suspicion in his eyes.

"I met a small yellow fox that was sad. So, I came early to cheer him up." Kakashi explained, his visible eye curving. _'A small yellow fox?' _Naruto thought, his eyes closed in thinking.

"Anyways, play it again." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto did and was stopped in the middle of a note by Kakashi.

"You forgot to play the notes in bar 58." Kakashi said.

Naruto looked at bar 58. He shifted his fingers down, fingered the first note, and played the rest of the notes on the bar. The blonde accidentally played a wrong note and made a deep screech. Naruto wince at the sound and stopped. He tried to play the note again, but the sound was still a screech.

_'What am I playing wrong?'_ Naruto thought, glaring at the sheet music in front of him. He soon felt someone behind him. He turned around and met eyes with Kakashi. Kakashi grabbed Naruto's left hand that was resting on the neck of the cello and grabbed his other hand that was on the bow. Naruto immediately blushed.

"Place your fingers like this." Kakashi said as he moved Naruto's left fingers down and placed four of his fingers on the D-string.

He moved Naruto's right hand so that the bow moved horizontally, creating a slight high hum from the cello.

"There. Do you know how to do it now?" Kakashi asked, his eye curving.

Kakashi heard nothing from Naruto and felt the blonde stiffen under him. Kakashi turned his head to the side. He noticed scarlet color across Naruto's cheeks and on the tips of his ears. Until then, Kakashi had not noticed the position they were in. Now it was his turn to blush, but it was covered by his mask.

"Naruto."

"Y-Yeah?" Naruto stuttered, now blushing bright red.

Naruto turned his head and looked up at Kakashi. Their faces were close enough that they felt each other's breaths on their cheeks. _'Just like 2 weeks ago.'_ Naruto thought. Kakashi practically held his breath as he looked at Naruto. His face was totally flushed, his lips were sticking out slightly making a small pout, and his cerulean eyes looked innocently at him. _'He looks so...kissable.'_ Kakashi thought.

Meanwhile, Naruto felt as if his face was on fire. He looked at Kakashi's masked face. _'I wonder what he is hiding beneath that mask?' _Naruto thought curiosly. As if they were magnets, their faces moved closer. Soon, their lips were a few centimeters apart. Naruto felt his heart beating like he was running a marathon.

Then, Kakashi moved his head down and kissed Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widen in shock as he felt the soft cloth of Kakashi's mask press on his lips. Unlike, his first kiss, Naruto instantly felt a pleasent electricity surge throughout his body. _'This feels...good.'_ Naruto thought. Suddently, the entrance door opened.

Naruto and Kakashi quickly pulled themselves away from each other, but they were too late. A small gasp came from the person in front of them. Naruto blushed in embarressment, while Kakashi stayed cool with his visible eye half-lidded as he looked at the person in front of them. Naruto slowly looked up. As he opened his mouth to talk, he stopped in total shock and slight fear.

Sakura stood in front of him with her emerald eyes widening at what she just saw.

**---------------------------------------------------30 minutes ago in Sakura's POV-------------------------------------------------------------**

_'I can't belive the nerve of that guy!'_ Sakura thought furiously as she stormed down the sidewalk. _'I am going to pummel that guy to death!'_ Her inner self shouted in her mind. Sakura completely agreed with her inner self. _'I am NOT a messanger! I am better than this.' _Sakura fummed. The people who were jogging or walking in the sidewalks, felt an angry aura coming from the pink-haired girl and quickly ran away from her.

_'Yeah, you're a prostitute. Do you think that's any better!' _A small voice said harshly in her mind. Sakura wince as if her face was slapped. Yes, Sakura was a prostitute.

**-----------------------------------------------------Eight years ago--------------------------------------------------------------**

_Both Ino and her parents were very poor and both lived in a small trailer, but they never told anyone. So, rumors started going around that they were rich spoiled brats because of their attitude in elementary school. Ino and Sakura completely ignored the rumors and continued normally in school. _

_Then, something happened._

_Their parents said that they have to find another place to live because they couldn't pay the bills. Right then, Sakura wanted to do anything, anything, to help her parents. After a few talks with Ino and her parents, their parents agreed an idea. _

_They would start an illegal brothel._

_It was their only choice. So they had to do it. The problem was, they needed girls in the brothel and they needed a place to work at. So, they rented out a run down apartment and started the business there. Ino and Sakura's mother agreed to work in the brothel. After a few weeks, they managed to buy a townhouse. Soon, Sakura and Ino got almost everything they wanted. Almost. They couldn't get what they wanted the most._

_They wanted to stop the sadness that was slowly appearing in their house._

_Every time the pink-haired girl walked past the locked bathroom door across the hall, she would always hear her mom crying and scrubbing furiously on something. Sakura knew her mother was scrubbing furiously on her body, but was too naive and innocent to notice then. Weeks past and still, Ino and Sakura's mom continued to work for their family. They soon got rich and were like a happy family, but Sakura noticed something strange in the look in her father's eyes._

_It was the look of greed._

_A few days past and Sakura started to hear her parents argue every night. One time, she didn't go to sleep and pushed slightly at the door and looked into the small crack. She heard her father talking about making her mother working with more customers and heard her mom about quitting the job and starting a normal one. Her father immediately objected to that, saying that she wouldn't get paid so well and that they still needed money._

_"We have all the money we needed! We have a home! We have food to bring at the table! We can be normal people now! What if we get caught by the police?" Those we exactly her mother's words._

_"We won't! We haven't been caught once in the last few weeks!" Her father snapped back._

_"There might be a chance!" Her mother said._

_"Since, when do you care about that now! You weren't thinking about this before we started the businese!" His father said, his patience getting thinner and thinner._

_"That was because I was desparate to help rebuild our family! Now that we have a new start for us, we live noramally now."_

_"That's not enough! We need more money!" Her father bellowed at her mother._

_"How can you be so selfish!"_

_That made her father snapped._

_Sakura watched in horror as her mother flew to the wall behind her from a fist on her cheek by her father. Surprise and horror flashed in her mother's face before she slumped unconscience against the wall. Her father slowly walked towards her unconscience mother with anger still in his veins. He curls his fist and raised it to hit her mother again._

_"Stop daddy! Don't hit mommy anymore!" Sakura shouted at her father as she burst into the room and ran between her mother and father._

_Her father immediately froze and looked at Sakura with a surprised and shocked look in his face._

_"Sakura, why aren't you in bed?" Her father demanded, uncurling his fist._

_"I wanted...to know what you and mommy are arguing about." Sakura said, feeling fear creep up her spine. _

_"You should've been in bed!" He father said with a slight force in his voice._

_"I know I should have, but if I did go to bed, you would hit mommy again!" Sakura shot back, feeling confidence in her body._

_Her father made a small growl in his throat, making Sakura lose the feeling of confidence and gain a shiver up her spine. A few seconds passed in silence. She saw her father take a deep breath and his shoulders relaxed. _

_"I'm sorry Sakura. I've been stressed for a while." Her father said calmly._

_"..."_

_"Why don't you go to bed? I'll take care of mommy." Her father said in a kind voice._

_"No! I'm staying with mommy! I won't let you hurt her!" Sakura as fiercely. _

_"Sakura..." _

_"No!"_

_Her father let out a frustrated sigh._

_"Alright. How about if I promise to never hurt mommy again?" Her father asked._

_"..." Sakura relaxed slightly at her father's propersal._

_"I swear I won't hurt mommy."_

_"Promise?" Sakura asked._

_"Promise."_

_"Ok..." Sakura trailed off, slowly stepping aside from her father and mother. _

_Her father gently lifted her mother in his arms and walked off to their room. Sakura yawned and also walked off to her room. A few days past, everything was back to normal. Sakura didn't hear arguements downstairs anymore. Everything was perfect, they were finally a happy family. _

_Then everything changed._

_Sakura and Ino were going to Ino's house to do homework. Once they were in the kitchen, the books in their hands dropped to the ground, making a sound in the silence._

_"M-Mama? Ino stuttered at she looked at her and Sakura's mother's body._

_Sakra and Ino's mother each had a rope aroung their necks and were hanging from the ceiling. Their bodies were hanging lifelessly in the air. The girls did what any female would do right now. _

_They screamed._

_The next door neighbors immediately ran outside, wondering who was screaming. They went to Ino's house and found Ino and Sakura pale as a ghost and kneeling in fear in front of their dead mothers. _

_After the police came, Sakura and Ino were holding each other with tears streaming down their cheeks. They were sitting ouside. A few minutes later, their fathers came and asked one of the polices what happened._

_"We believe your wives commited suicide." Sakura heard the police said._

_Sakura's heart shattered as her and Ino's father said and did nothing. Their face expressions were of shock, but their eyes held no emotions. As if their wives were of nothing to them. It was then she knew._

_Ino and her father were not the kind fathers they knew anymore. They were now monsters who were consumed with greed._

_After a week since Sakura's mother died, the pink-haired girl hadn't recovered the slightest bit. Ino was the same as Sakura, but she managed to make a small smile for show. Everything was slowly falling apart for them. Then, it just got worse._

_"Sakura, can you come in?" Sakura's father asked throught his room._

_"Yeah, hold on!" Sakura said as she walked upstairs and into her father's room._

_"What is it daddy?" Sakura asked quietly as she stepped in front of her father._

_"Sakura...I don't know how to say this, but..." Her father trailed off. _

_"We need to find you a job."_

_"...W-What?" Sakura managed to say out. _

_"I know this is surprising, but since mommy died, we have no one to help bring food to the table." Her father explained._

_"But, what about you! Can't you find a job?" Sakura asked curiously._

_"Don't you think I already have a job?" Her father said, narrowing his eyes slightly._

_"That was before mommy died! Since she's gone, how are you going to find...ummm...what was it called. Whores?" Sakura said._

_"Easy, you are going to take mommy's place." _

_"Huh!" Sakura shouted, looking at her father with a shocked look. _

_"Why can't I take a normal job?" Sakura asked._

_"You're going to work with daddy and that's final." Her father commanded._

_"Why!" Sakura asked, remembering that her mother said that her job was very bad and that she should never have a job like her's._

_"Because I said so! We won't have a lot of money! Do you want to get us back to being poor and losing this house!" Her father said._

_"...No." Sakrua said hesitantly._

_"Then, it's settled, you are working for daddy now." _

**----------------------------------------------------------------------End of Flashback-------------------------------------------------**

After that, she called Ino about what happened. Ino said that her father said the same thing. That she was working with her father too. At first, they were scared, but now they were use to it. Now, Sakura can get almost everything she wanted now, but she couldn't get what she wanted the most.

Someone to love her.

That's when she met Sasuke. While she was walking down the street in the middle of the night, she was attacked and almost raped. Sakura looked in fear as she saw a knife appear in the person's hand. As the person raised the knife, the person, who was identified as a man, dropped his knife and doubled over in pain. The fell unconscience Sakura looked up and saw a pair of ebony eyes.

She immediately fell in love.

Before, she could say anything, he left. After that, she went to middle school and saw her hero again. She heard his name was Sasuke Uchiha. Then, she was determined that she would get Sasuke because he might be the person who will save her from her father and from the gruesome job. She noticed that she wasn't the only one vieing for Sasuke's attention.

Ino was also chasing him.

That immediately set them from best of friends to rivals. Sakura snapped out if her thoughts and remembered what she needed to do. One of her 'customers' asked her if she would give a note to a guy named Hatake, Kakashi. Sakura just looked at him as if he was dumb.

"THE Hatake, Kakashi here?" Sakura asked.

"He is here. In fact, he has a shop. Here's the address." Her customer said and told her how to get there.

"Once you return from giving him the note, I'll give you something special." The man said, giving a seductive wink at Sakura.

Sakura only forced a polite smile while her inner self rambled about how she was going to pummel that guy. Sakura snapped back to reality and noticed she was in front of a store.

"Kakashi's Music Store." Sakura read the sign above the store.

_'So the guy wasn't lying.'_ Sakura thought._ 'But, I'm still going to pummel that guy!' _Her inner self shouted in her thoughts. _'Well, lets get over with this and I can go home.'_ Sakura thought as she opened the entrance door.

**----------------------------------------------------------Present------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto felt his body froze in shock as he looked at Sakura with fear in his eyes. _'Damn! Why did it have to be her!' _Naruto shouted in his mind. _'Now, she's going to tell everyone about this.'_ Kakashi stood still, wondering what's going to happen. _'Great.' _Kakashi thought sarcastically. _'Someone saw me kiss my student. I'm going to hear lots of people talking about this.'_ Kakashi thought, letting out a silent sigh.

"Ummm, I'm just here to give a note to Kakashi-san." Sakura said politely as she grabbed a yellow note from her breast pocket.

"Uh, just set it on the counter." Kakashi said, standing up.

Sakura nodded and set the note on the counter. She looked at Naruto who was thinking of gruesome ways that Sakura is going to ruin his life with what she saw._ 'I could tell everyone about this at school.'_ Sakura realized. _'Then Sasuke would be so disgusted of Naruto. Then, he will be with me.'_ Sakura thought, happy over that thought. _'That would be too cruel.' _A voice in the back of her head said. _'Remember, he had a worst life than you.'_ '_But, what about me? I want a happy ending for me too.'_ Sakura bit back. _'Sakura, for once. Don't be selfish and do something for someone other than yourself.' _The voice said.

"Miss?"

Sakura snapped back from her thoughts and turned to the voice. Kakashi was looking at her strangely, while Naruto shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry! I should be going now." Sakura said as she walked out of the store.

Naruto sat down his instrument and walked towards Kakashi.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto trailed off.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone if you don't." Kakashi said, his eye curving.

"Yeah! Thank you." Naruto said, grinning at Kakashi.

"I got to go! I'll see ya later Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said brightly as he walked out of the store.

Kakashi just waved back.

Once Naruto was out of the store, he ran towards Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura turned around and looked at Naruto. Once Naruto was in front of her, he looked at Sakura with a slight fear in his eyes.

"Look, I know you hate me because you think I was flirting with Sasuke, but I'm not! Sasuke is an arrogant bastard and pigs would fly before I flirt with him. Don't say anything about what happened a few minutes ago. My friends will be all over me about this, and Iruka-sensei will kill me about this. Also-" Naruto rambled, but was cut off.

"Don't worry Naruto. I won't tell anyone." Sakura said.

"You won't?" Naruto said with suspicion, but hope in his eyes.

"I won't." Sakura said.

"Really! Thanks!" Naruto shouted happily, relief in his eyes.

Sakura smiled at Naruto's reaction.

"You know you aren't such a bitch as I thought!" Naruto said.

He suddently felt a dark aura emitted from the pink-haired girl.

"You thought I was a bitch?" Sakura said darkly as she cracked her knuckles in a threatening way.

"Eh...Oh! Look at the time! I got to go see Iruka-sensei. I'll see ya later!" Naruto said as he ran off.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted at the running blonde.

Sakura couldn't stop a smile appearing on her face as she watched the blonde run. _'It feels good.' _Sakura realized._ 'It feels good to see the look of trust or relief coming from someone looking at me.' _Sakura thought. _'Maybe, I could be friends with Naruto.' _

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto stood in front of the white hospital entrance, with his hands on his knees panting. _'I got away from Sakura.'_ Naruto thought, sighing with relief. _'I'm surprised she promised not to say anything about what happened.' _Naruto thought. He thought about Kakashi. He lifted his right hand and touched his lips. _'The kiss felt good.'_ Naruto thought. He immediately blushed at the thought. _'Come on Naruto! He's your cello teacher!'_ Naruto shouted in his mind.

Taking a deep breath he walked into the hospital and talked to Iruka.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: You guys like it? I've been practicely bashing my head on the desk to finish this chapter XD If you Sakura-haters feel sorry for Sakura in this story, then I have done my job! But, I still hate Sakura XD YAY! I finally did a KakaNaru scene!**

**Anyways, PLEASE leave a review!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm soooooo sorry it took so long for me to update! School was being a bitch to me T.T Anyways, 5000 words! XD Soo much (well, for me). Also, just to remind you guys, there will be NO GaaNaru in this (I like the pairing to,but it's not going to be in this story.) I'm also sorry that chapter 4 is missing T.T I'll try to remember the whole thing and rewrite the whole thing again, but some of the things will change of course. Also, beware that Kyuubi will be OC in this story. **

**Also, so far, here are the votes of the KakaNaru lemon:**

**Yes: 4**

**No: 0**

**I'm still waiting for the votes. I'll close it once I finish chapter 10. **

**Also, I'd like to thank astarte lea for being my beta! Also, Usagi-chan! If it weren't for her advice, I would've taken longer on finishing this chapter XD**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto woke up without the alarm clock screeching in his ear. He slowly sat up from his bed and yawned. He stretched his muscles and bones and walked to his bathroom. He came back into his room and looked at the clock. _'1:45 P.M' _Naruto read. He walked into the kitchen and cooked ramen for his breakfast. As he finisheed his ramen, he remembered something. _'I need to meet with Gaara at the mall in 3:00' _Naruto thought as he looks at the clock. _'2:15 P.M' _Naruto read.

Deciding to go early, Naruto went to his room and changed. He came out of his room wearing an orange sleeveless shirt, navy jeans that clung tightly at his thighs and waist, and Nike shoes with black streaks on the sides. He grabbed his frog wallet and walked out of the apartment. Once he walked out of the apartment (he was on the 2nd floor), he turned to the left and walked down the streets. There were people walking down the streets in front of him. Once they saw him, they quickly walked faster.

"Monster..."

"Murderer..."

"_Demon..._"

Naruto silently ignored the voices spewing venom at him. He instinctively reached into his pocket to get his mp3. _'Right, I didn't bring my mp3.' _Naruto thought as he sighed. Pushing that thought away, he continued to walk past the people who stopped walking and gave him venom glares.

"How can he kill them! That little devil!" A man whispered to a woman beside him.

"I know, he's a demon." The woman said, her voice filled with hate.

Naruto continued to walk past them, already used to the voices saying hateful things to him. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and tried to think of something in order to ignore the voices. _'The kiss...Kakashi-sensei.' _Naruto thought, a bright red blush across his whiskered cheeks. _'Why did he kiss me? I mean I'm just a kid and he's older than me. Also the fact that he's a guy!' _Naruto thought as he pulled his spiky hair in frustration. _'But, you like him and didn't you say a few years ago that age and gender didn't matter?'_ A small voice in the back of his mind questioned him. _'That doesn't point out the fact that he's still my teacher!' _Naruto debated back.

_'Does it matter?'_ The voice asked again. _'Of course! What will people say when I date my teacher?'_ Naruto thought. _'Since when did you care what people thought about you? Besides, Sakura saw you two kissing and swore to tell no one about it.'_ Naruto grimaced at the reminder of seeing Sakura unexpected, but blush redder at the reminder of the kiss. _'Since I started this school. How will my friends react?'_ Naruto questioned his conscience. His conscience stayed silent. Getting away from his thoughts, Naruto looked around him. People were looking at him with slight fear.

"We'd better get away." A woman said.

"Before he kills _us_." The woman said again, thinking that Naruto's redness was from anger not embarressment.

Naruto looked at the retreating people with a confused look on his face, wondering why they were walking away instead of whispering harsh things at him. Ignoring the curious thought, he continued to walk down the street. After a few minutes, Naruto arrived in front of a building that was half the size of Taiwan 101. Once he walked into the mall, the people that were walking past him shot death glares at him. _'I hate malls.' _Naruto thought as he sighed. He realized something. _'I forgot to ask Gaara where to meet.' _Naruto thought as he pulled his hair, a growl of frustration in the back of his throat. _'How am I going to find him in this huge mall?' _

Outside the mall, it looked big and in the inside, it was huge. The first floor was covered with shops and food stands. In the middle was a large staircase that lead to the 2nd floor. The mall has 4 floors and was rumored that they were going to make a 5th floor. Not knowing where to wait for Gaara, Naruto sat on a bench that was next to the entrance.

He waited...

And waited...

Thirty minutes later, Naruto tapped his right foot out of boredom and continued to look at the entrance. _'When is Gaara coming?' _Naruto thought impatiently as his eyes squinted like a fox and continued to wait. A minute later, Naruto was starting to glare at the entrance and continued to tap his right foot. Another minute later, he felt someone staring at him. He turned and saw Gaara staring at him from the stairs. Naruto instantly smiled at the red-haired boy and jumped up from the bench. He quickly walked towards Gaara.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto greeted as he grinned at Gaara.

"Hello, Uzumaki."

"Awww, this again Gaara?" Naruto whined.

Before Naruto and Gaara were friends, Gaara always referred to Naruto by his last name, which annoyed Naruto. It took Naruto days to make Gaara finally say his first name.

"..."

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Naruto said as he pouted.

"Do you want some ramen?" Gaara asked looking at the stores.

"Yeah!" Naruto said, his eyes brightening instantly as he grabbed Gaara's left hand and dragged him deeper into the mall.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------5 minutes later--------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Let's eat!" Naruto said as he broke the attached wooden chopsticks in half and began to eat his miso ramen.

Gaara stared at Naruto as the blonde slurped happily at his ramen. _'Not as good as 'Ichiraku'_ _but I guess it's ok.'_ Naruto thought. He soon felt Gaara staring at him and tried to ignore it. After Naruto's third bowl, the blonde started to feel uncomfortable under Gaara's gaze. After another 2 bowls of ramen, he burped slightly and looked at Gaara.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat some?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not hungry."

"Aww, come on! You always say that!" Naruto whined.

"Hey, old man! One bowl of miso ramen please!" Naruto called out.

"Coming right up!"

"Uzumaki, I am not hungry." Gaara said, a hint of annoyance in his monotone voice.

"You're going to eat! I bet you haven't even tried ramen before." Naruto said, scowling at the thought of people never having eaten ramen before.

"..."

"Here's your ramen!" A young waitress said as she served the bowl of ramen on the counter.

"Thanks!" Naruto said to the waitress, grinning at her.

The waitress smiled back and walked off. Naruto pushed the bowl towards Gaara slightly. The blondes' face looked eagerly at Gaara, waiting for him to eat the ramen. Gaara didn't move. Growling slightly, Naruto grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks that was at the right of Gaara and broke the attached chopsticks in two.

"Eat." Naruto said, sticking the wooden chopsticks in front of Gaara.

"No."

Naruto glared at the red-haired boy beside him. Gaara glared back. People in the stall felt a cold shiver as they looked a Gaara's glare. The people quickly paid for their meals and left the stall. Naruto didn't faze under Gaara's glare. Instead, he wore his infamous puppy-dog face and looked at him.

"Come oonn! Can't you eat just a bit?" Naruto whined, clasping his hands together in front of him.

Gaara almost sighed at Naruto at his stubbornness. _'Might as well.' _Gaara thought as he looked at Naruto. Gaara took the chopsticks in his right hand and took a bite out of a couple of noodles. Naruto smiled brightly. _'Yatta! I finally got Gaara to eat something!' _Naruto thought happily as he looked at Gaara. Gaara sat the chopsticks down to his right side.

"Well? What do you think?" Naruto asked Gaara, eagerness in his blue eyes.

"I hate it."

Naruto stumbled at the statement and almost fell off his chair. The blonde quickly regained his balance and looked at Gaara with a shocked face.

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled, making people look at him strangely.

"How can you hate ramen!" Naruto continued to shout at Gaara, disbelief in his eyes.

"..."

Gaara felt an invisible smile at the corner of his lips as he saw the disbelieved blonde in front of him. Soon, Naruto recovered and began to ramble about why he should like ramen. _'Still obsessed with ramen eh, Naruto?' _Gaara thought amusingly. Gaara patiently waited for Naruto to stop his rambling, or at least waited for him to get a dry throat from the talking.

"...Man I'm thirsty." Naruto said, ending his ramble.

Naruto ordered a cup of water and drank the water in one gulp. Naruto looked at Gaara and remembered something.

"Hey, Gaara. What did you wanted to talk to me about?" Naruto asked, remembering yesterday.

"..."

"Gaara?" Naruto asked, in a concerned voice as he looked at the red-haired boy in front of him.

"Naruto. Do you remember 5 years ago?" Gaara asked.

"What about 5 years ago?" Naruto asked, curiosity in his voice, but his mind was in slight panic.

_'Does he know what happened?' _Naruto thought alarmed, fear growing in his mind by the second. _'I mean, he was around 10 years old when that happened.' _Naruto thought.

"Do not act as if you don't know." Gaara said in his monotone voice as he turned to look at Naruto straight in the eye.

"Do you remember the infamous massacre that took place six years ago?"

"Of course. What about it?" Naruto asked, fake curiousity in his voice.

"Did you know who the child was that killed 50 people?"

"Yea. Some kid." Naruto said.

"From what I researched. The child had six whisker scars. Three on each cheek like yours."

Naruto flinched as if he had been slapped. He turned his head to the side and looked at the people in the mall from a distance. One thought made Naruto feel a shiver down his spine.

_'He knows.'_

Gaara looked at Naruto's reaction and made a conclusion. _'So, he still remembers.' _Gaara thought. Naruto's mind was racing like a marathon. _'How did he know? Did Sakura tell him?' _Naruto thought. The tension in the stall was getting thicker. Naruto felt like the walls were closing in and voices were coming out of them.

_"You monster._

_"Murderer."_

_"You don't deserve to live."_

_"Die!"_

"Naruto." Gaara's voice cut off the Naruto's thoughts.

Naruto stiffened in silence. Gaara waited for the blonde's response. After a few seconds, he got one that shocked him.

"So, are you going to shove the past in my face?" Naruto asked quietly, unexpectedly standing up and avoiding Gaara's gaze at him.

"Act like the others and tell me that I'm a monster when I already know?" Naruto said, still avoiding Gaara's gaze at him.

_'I...I don't want to see that look of hatred on his face.' _Naruto thought. _'Even if he's my best friend, he'll still hate me just like the others.'_ Naruto walked out of the stall and into the busy mall. Gaara felt a sting of hurt at Naruto's comments. _'It's no surprise though.' _Gaara thought. Gaara let out a quiet sigh as he paid for the ramen and walked into the mall. _'Looks like I'll have to tell Naruto another time.' _Gaara thought as he took out a slightly faded picture.

A picture of an abandoned playground with the sunset in the background. A lone boy with blond hair was sitting on a broken swing.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto quickly walked out of the mall, his mind was too occupied to notice the glares from the people he past by. The past was starting to creep into his mind again, but for once, he let the past reappear in his mind.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback-----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_"Kyuubi!" Ten year-old Naruto shouted happily as he raced toward the red-haired man._

_Kyuubi turned around and smiled at the blonde. Once the blonde was a few inches apart from Kyuubi, he pounced on Kyuubi while grinning. Naruto laughed as Kyuubi wrapped his arms around his waist and twirled him around. Kyuubi gently lowered Naruto to the ground and grinned at him._

_"Did ya have fun Naruto?" Kyuubi asked._

_"Yeah! The kids and teachers in school were really nice!" Naruto said as he grinned back._

_Kyuubi was a CEO of a major computer company. Naruto was his nephew and he had adopted him when his mother died from a disease and his father was nowhere to be found. Naruto then, was only at the age of 5. Though, Naruto can't call him Otou-san without feeling uncomfortable, he still thinks of Kyuubi as his father. Even though Kyuubi is only 25. Kyuubi doesn't see Naruto a lot because of his job. Though, when he does, it always ends up with them sleeping on the couch because of all the fun time they had._

_"Want to get some ramen?" Kyuubi asked._

_"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, instantly jumping in excitement. _

_Kyuubi grinned again and chuckled at Naruto. Once they got into Kyuubi's red Mercedes Benz, they drove off. _'Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!' _Naruto chanted eagerly as Kyuubi continued to drive. _

_"How was the company?" Naruto asked, trying to make a conversation._

_"Hmm...The stocks are starting to get higher and higher, which makes my paperwork stack much higher." Kyuubi said, sighing at the thought of the hundreds of papers he had to sign._

_"That's great! Well, besides the boring paperwork." Naruto said, grinning._

_"Yeah...I guess." Kyuubi replied, the last two words where a mutter under his breath._

'He's doing it again.' _Naruto thought as he looked at Kyuubi. Every time both of them talked about Kyuubi's business, the red-haired man had a dazed look on his face and his eyes would show an emotion that Naruto couldn't place. It started when Naruto overheard Kyuubi and one of his partners discussing something. He did not know how, but somehow, Kyuubi was furious at the man and looked as if the man didn't leave within 25 seconds, he would punch him. This brought shock to Naruto because, for as long as he knew Kyuubi, he rarely got furious._

_"Naruto?"_

_Naruto snapped back from his thoughts and looked at the Kyuubi._

_"We're here. You seem to be zoning off a bit. What, you don't want ramen anymore?" Kyuubi teased slightly at Naruto._

_"What! Of course I do!" Naruto replied back, puffing his scar less cheeks at Kyuubi._

_Kyuubi chuckled at Naruto and got out of the car. Naruto did the same thing and quickly bounced next to Kyuubi. Kyuubi chuckled again and they both walked to the ramen stand. They sat on the stools closest to them._

_"Hey!" Naruto shouted for a waitress as he also waved his hands._

_"Naruto, quiet down." Kyuubi said, trying to ease some of Naruto's energy._

_Naruto ignored his uncle and continued to wave in the air. Kyuubi sweat dropped in embarressment as he turned and looked at the people glaring at him. _'Naruto, why can't you be quiet for once?' _Kyuubi sighed as he looked at his nephew. Finally, a waitress came to the blonde to quiet him down. Immediately, Naruto ordered every type of ramen they had. _

_A smile appeared on Kyuubi face. _'But, that's what makes him more unique than others.' _Kyuubi thought as he saw the waitress write furiously to catch up with Naruto's quick words. _

_"And one shrimp ramen!" Naruto said as he grinned at the waitress, who was shaking her right hand slightly from all the writing she did._

_"What will you have, sir?" The waitress asked Kyuubi._

_"I'll just have chicken ramen. Plus, this kid pretty much spends up all my money." Kyuubi joked as he ruffled Naruto's hair._

_"Hey! I don't eat that much!" Naruto protested as he pouted again, the waitress walking away._

_"Don't eat much? Last week, you ate a total of 78 ramen bowls!" _

_"Well...I was hungry last week!"_

_"Were you also that hungry the week before that? 'Cause you almost ate the same amount as last week!"_

_"..." _

_Kyuubi chuckled again as his nephew stayed silent and glared at him. _

_"Just joking, brat." Kyuubi said in a teasing tone as he ruffled Naruto's hair again in a playful manner. _

_"...Meanie." Naruto said as he glared at his uncle. _

_"Hey, I said I was joking!" Kyuubi protested, raising his hands slightly up in defeat._

_Kyuubi looked at the street behind him, silently waiting for their ramen. Naruto looked closely at his uncle. Kyuubi had long waist length red hair that was tired into a low pony tail. His eyes were brown and were curved in an almond shape. To Naruto, Kyuubi was handsome for his age. _'No wonder girls were practically pouncing on him.' _Naruto thought, remembering a woman actually doing that to his uncle._

_"Quit staring at me brat, it gets annoying." Kyuubi said as he playfully glare at Naruto._

_Naruto stuck his tongue out in a childish manner. The waitress appeared from their right and walked to them with stackfuls of ramen._

_"Here are some of your ramens. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a while to get the rest of your ramen, sir." The waitress said, an embarrassed smile appeared on her face._

_"No problem!" Naruto said, grinning brightly as he eagerly reached for the shrimp ramen._

_Kyuubi thanked the waitress as she handed him his bowl of ramen. The waitress blushed and nodded. She quickly walked off to get her other orders._

_"Let's eat!" Naruto said as he began to gulp down the ramen._

_"Let's eat!" Kyuubi said in unison with Naruto, but quieter as he began to eat his ramen._

_After a few minutes, the waitress came back with the last of the bowls of ramen only to find the blonde boy almost finishing the stacks of ramen. Kyuubi grinned sheepishly at the waitress as she stared at Naruto. The stare was replaced with a smile as Naruto looked at the stacks of ramen in her hands with joy in his eyes._

_"Here's the last of your order." The waitress said as she sat down the bowls of ramen._

_"Thank you!" Naruto said cheerfully as he began to eat his 7th bowl of ramen. _

_The waitress smiled at Naruto and walked off._

_Kyuubi sweat dropped as he saw Naruto stuff the ramen down his mouth. _

_"I still wonder how you can eat so much ramen and not get a single ounce of fat on you." Kyuubi said as Naruto began his 8th ramen. _

_"That's because I play with my friends a lot!" Naruto said as he stuffed more ramen into his mouth._

'That must've been a whole hell of a lot of playing.' _Kyuubi thought as he sweat dropped. Kyuubi ate the last of his ramen and waited for Naruto to finish his. That didn't take long as in a few minutes, Naruto lifted his bowl and drank the soup of his 12th and last ramen. Naruto burped slightly and patted his stomach in content._

_"It's official, you have a blackhole in your stomach." Kyuubi said as he patted his nephew's head and looked at the 12 empty bowls._

_"Do not." Naruto said childishly as he swatted his uncle's hand. _

_The waitress, again, walked towards them and handed Kyuubi a long, small piece of paper._

_"Here is your bill, sir." The waitress said as she smiled at him._

_"Thank you." _

_Once that waitress left, Kyuubi looked at the bill. _'Total: $109.95' _Kyuubi read as he groaned. Never the less, he payed the bill and both he and Naruto left the stand. After a few minutes, they arrived at their house, I mean, mansion. Strangely, they did not have a gate, but no one would want to steal from Kyuubi since he was also a boxer before his fame and fortune. The mansion was white with trees standing near the path, making the path to the mansion look endless. _

_Naruto jumped out of the car and ran towards the entrance of the mansion. The mansion wasn't covered with green vines, and it looked beautiful when the sun is bright like today. Naruto waited impatiently as Kyuubi took his time top walk down the path to his mansion. _

_"Hurry up, Kyuubi-san!" Naruto said impatiently._

_"Yeah, yeah. Just wait for a sec, brat." Kyuubi said as he continued to walk._

_Once Kyuubi arrived, the red-haired man opened the doors and Naruto quickly ran upstairs. Naruto looked at the grandfather clock in the halls as he past it. _'5:30 P.M'_ Naruto read as he opened his bedroom door and entered. His room, was very clean because of the maids Kyuubi hired. There were some posters on the walls of foxes and a few sketches of foxes by Naruto himself. _

_Naruto took a shower. Once he changed into his orange pajamas, he heard loud voices above his bathroom. It was the 3rd floor bathroom that was connected to Kyuubi's room. _

_"I told you for the last time, I'm not doing it." Kyuubi's voice said calmly, but Naruto could still hear a bit of anger coming from it._

_"Think of the money we'll be getting if we make this deal!" Another male voice said with a bit of a static in his voice._

_Naruto guessed that the person was on the speaker._

_"Unlike you guys, I'm not going to sell my company over a small chance of getting more powerful." Kyuubi said._

_"Besides, I already have what I've always wanted." _

_"But, don't you want more?" The voice said, encouraging him._

_"No. Again, I have all that I wanted." Kyuubi said._

_Naruto had confusion in his eyes, as he tried to understand what they were talking about. _

_"Come on! I know there is something you still want." The voice coaxed._

_"This deal will make it worth your while."_

'Deal?' _Naruto thought in confusion as he continued to listen._

_"For the last time. NO!" Kyuubi barked as he hung up the phone._

_After that, Naruto heard only silence. Naruto walked back into his room and pondered about the argument. _'What was the deal?' _Naruto thought. _'Usually, Kyuubi would tell me about it.' _Naruto thought, feeling slight hurt. He laied down on his bed and fell asleep thinking about the conversations._

_After overhearing the conversation, Kyuubi had been avoiding Naruto for a few days. This brought shock and major hurt to Naruto. The red-haired man doesn't even take him to the ramen stand anymore. _'Maybe he's stressed from that deal he and the other man were talking about.' _Naruto would always think as Kyuubi would make an excuse to get away from him. _

_Naruto would take the bus to school instead of Kyuubi driving him to and from school. Not that he minded talking to his friends on the bus, but he missed the moments where he would talk and Kyuubi would listen. In the few days, Naruto continued to bring a big grin on his face, even when he's continued to feel tingles of pain in his heart. _

_"See ya guys!" Naruto shouted as he waved to his friends._

_His friends waved back and walked towards their houses. Naruto walked towards his mansion. _'I hope Kyuubi-san is at home.' _Naruto thought, smiling at the thought. The smile was slowly replaced by a frown. _'Then again, he'll probably not be in the house and be at the company again.' _Naruto sighed as he took out his house keys and opened the door of the mansion._

_"Kyuubi?" Naruto called out of the mansion, hoping his uncle was here._

_The only response was an echo from the vacant mansion. Naruto lowered his eyes sadly as he walked to his bedroom. He went to take a shower and get dressed into his pajamas. Naruto sat on his bed, gazing at the window beside his bed. He silently hoped and waited that Kyuubi would come. After a few minutes, Naruto's stomach growled in hunger. Then, he went downstairs and into the kitchen._

_Naruto grabbed seven drumsticks from the oven that the chef kept for him. He went back to his room and ate his drumsticks, while looking out the window. After eating all the drumsticks and waiting for three and a half hours, Naruto knew that Kyuubi wasn't coming. Naruto sighed sadly as he went back down to the kitchen and placed the dish into the sink. _

_He heard the front door open. Naruto quickly went to it and saw Kyuubi in front of the entrance. _

_"Hi Kyuubi!" Naruto shouted happily as he stepped in front of his uncle._

_Kyuubi looked exhausted. There were small black bags under his eyes and his hair looked a bit messy. His brown eyes were a bit glazed, as if he wasn't paying attention to anything._

_"Sorry, Naruto. I need to sleep." Kyuubi said, showing an 'Sorry' grin._

_"Oh." Naruto lowered his eyes sadly, then snapped back up when he remembered something._

_"Kyuubi, do you know what tomorrow is!" Naruto asked his eyes showing happiness._

_Kyuubi kept quiet for a few minutes and shook his head._

_"No. What is it?" Kyuubi asked._

_Naruto quickly hid his shock and immense hurt expression into a grin._

_"It's nothing! Sleep well!" Naruto said as he ran to his room._

_After slamming his door loudly, he took of his happy mask and stared sadly at the door. _'He didn't remember.' _Naruto thought, feeling like knives were poking at his heart. _'He has never has forgotten about it before. Ever.' _Naruto thought. Soon, he realized something and his sad stare turned into an angry one. _'It's all because of that dumb deal!' _Naruto thought furiously. _'Why did it have to happen!' _Naruto thought as he started to pace angrily in his room. _

_Thirty minutes later, Naruto finally laid on his bed, slightly exhausted from the long pace. He turned his head to the side and saw his calender on his desk. Just as he closed his eyes, he saw the date for tomorrow._

_October 10_

_In the middle of the night, Naruto slowly opened his eyes. _'What's with the noise downstairs?' _Naruto thought as he rubbed his eyes. He heard a muffled shout and something splattering on the ground. He opened the door and looked around. There were spots of red on the floor. Still curious, he walked towards the top of the stairs. _

_He never expected people to be lying on the ground below the stairs, their faces facing towards the ground and a red pool of liquid around them. The clear marble floor was being covered by the red substance. _'Why are there people on the ground? Isn't it uncomfortable sleeping like that?' _Naruto thought. '_Maybe they were too tired to go to their beds. Hm, that's funny 'cause Kyuubi didn't say anything about people coming over here.' _The young boy slowly walked down the stairs and towards a man that was lying closest to him._

_"Hey Mister. Wake up." Naruto said as he pushed gently on the man's back. _

_He soon felt something warm and wet on his hand. He held his hand upright and saw red liquid covering his palm. _'What is this?'_ Naruto thought as he curiously looked at the substance. He lifted it to his nose and smelled it. The blonde scrunched up his face in disgust. _'Ewwww. It smells bad.' _He took his hand away from his face, and gently pulled the man over, to see his face._

_He didn't expect to see the face to be covered in the red substance and a pair of lifeless eyes staring at him in a horrified expression. Naruto immediately let go of the body, causing the body to flip back to the same position. _'What is going to on?' _Naruto thought, his mind was fully cleared, but filled with confusion and fear. _

_Then he realized something. He raised his hand towards his face and inspected the red substance again. He knew what it was now._

_'Blood'_

_"Naruto..."_

_Naruto snapped his head away from his hand and quickly turned at the eerie call of his name. He turned his head and saw Kyuubi standing in the center of lifeless bodies. Kyuubi had playful brown eyes that Naruto always liked, but they looked so dead and hollow right now in front of Naruto. His red waist-length hair that was always pulled into a low pony tail, was now in a high pony tail and had bits of blood attached to his hair._

_His slightly pale skin was now covered with dry crusted blood. Kyuubi's clothes were also covered in the red substance. His right hand was holding a blood stained katana. Kyuubi slowly walked towards Naruto in a dazed movement, almost as if he were sleep walking. Naruto just stood there, paralyzed in fear as his uncle came closer to him. _'Is it really Kyuubi?' _Naruto thought in fear._

_"Naruto..." Kyuubi said again as he reached his right hand towards Naruto, while still walking._

'Naruto...my innocent Naruto.' _Kyuubi thought as he walked closer to his nephew. _'He'll understand me. He always does.'

_"You'll always be with me ."_

'No.'

_"Right here with me..."_

'No!'

_"Don't come any closer!" Naruto shouted, his hands curled into fists._

_Kyuubi stopped walking and looked at Naruto with a shock look on his face._

_"Did you kill these people Kyuubi?" Naruto asked, a small spark of hope that his uncle didn't do this...massacre._

_His hopes were crushed when he heard the word._

_"Yes."_

_Naruto fell down in disbelief as he stared at Kyuubi with utter horror. _'This...this can't be happening!' _Naruto shouted in his mind as he stared at the stained ground. He felt a rough skinned hand brush his smooth cheeks. He knew it was Kyuubi's. Out of reaction, Naruto flinched and scrambled away from Kyuubi._

_"Naruto.." Kyuubi trailed off, slightly hurt at Naruto's reaction._

_"Stay away from me!" Naruto shouted as he felt small tears appearing at the corner of his eyes._

'So, it's true.' _Kyuubi thought sadly as he stared at the horror stricken blonde. _'In time, everyone will fear me and I will have no one.' _Kyuubi thought. _'I don't want Naruto to experience the same thing as me.' 'Maybe he doesn't have to.' _A voice in the back of his mind taunted him. _'If you kill him, then he won't be hurt by anyone ever again. Besides, if he lives and tells the police everything. You'll die.' Kyuubi shook his head slightly. 'Naruto would never do that.' _Kyuubi fired back. _'But, you never know. Like a few seconds ago. You thought he would accept you in this situation, but instead, he scrambled away from you.' _The voice said. Kyuubi kept silent. He thought about the choices. He made the choice._

_Kyuubi walked closer to Naruto. Naruto crawled backwards. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as his back hit the east wall. Kyuubi raised his katana and made long, thin cuts across Naruto's cheeks. Naruto stood still as he felt pain in his cheeks. By the time Kyuubi was done, Naruto had six scars across his cheeks, three on each of his cheeks. His cheeks were covered with blood._

_"Naruto." Kyuubi said._

_Naruto looked up at Kyuubi with a horrified and surprised look on his face._

_Kyuubi was smiling. _

_It wasn't a psychotic smile. It was a sad, yet happy smile. Kyuubi raised the katana above his head. Naruto shut his eyes. A slash of a skin was heard._

_What was Kyuubi's choice?_

_He would not kill Naruto._

_Naruto slowly opened his eyes and stared in horror as he saw his uncle with the katana stabbed through his stomach. Kyuubi still smiled at Naruto. _'I won't kill Naruto. He's too important to me.' _Kyuubi thought as he looked at Naruto's face. Kyuubi felt the place spin around him and closed his eyes for the last time. His lifeless body fell on top of Naruto. Naruto quickly grabbed the handle of the katana to stop the body from completely falling onto him. _

_The body stopped and it trapped Naruto between the wall. _'I'm stuck!' _Naruto thought panicky as he pushed the handle forward to push the body away from him. The body didn't move. Naruto's mind was racing. _'What am I going to do?'

_Suddenly, the front door burst open. _

_"Freeze!"_

_Naruto stood still as he heard footsteps run across the room. He turned his head to see the intruders, but the body blocked the sight. _

_"Their all dead!" A person shouted., as if confirming it._

_"Search if they're any survivors." A deep voice commanded._

'The police?' _Naruto thought. _'But, how did they know?' _Naruto thought curiously. His question was answered when he heard an officer pull out something that sounded like a dead phone line. He waited for an officer to notice him. He saw a glint of white light on the katana. He heard the footsteps come closer to him. Naruto saw a hand grasp Kyuubi's lifeless body and laid him down. _

_He saw a pair of black eyes staring at him. He looked down and saw that he was still holding the bloody katana. The police saw the connection, the wrong connection, and looked at him in disgust. _

_"Looks like we found the murderer." The officer sneered as he pointed at Naruto._

_The other officers looked at him and also saw the connections. They all glared at him in disgust._

_"No! NO! I didn't-" Naruto began as he dropped the katana with a clank._

_"Yeah, yeah." The officer growled as he roughly grabbed Naruto and pushed him outside. _

_The police officers continued to glare at him as he went outside. The reporters were taking pictures of him and bystanders were glaring at him. The officer pushed him into the police car and they drove off._

_Inside the mansion, the grandfather clock continued to tick._

_It was October 10, 12:20 A.M. The exact time and date of Naruto's birth._

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback over--------------------------------------------------------**

Weeks later, they had Naruto's trial. He was lucky he wasn't found guilty and manage to stay out of jail. The people though, were protesting and objecting it. He went to the hospital and got his wounds taken care of. Though, he still has the scars on his cheeks from Kyuubi. After that, Naruto went to an orphanage and got adopted by _them_. _'Hopefully, I won't see them again.' _Naruto thought as he arrived at Iruka's apartment. His hope wasn't answered as he saw three people standing in front of Iruka's front door. As he walked closer, his eyes widened in surprise.

It was Naruto's foster father and mother.

The third person was a young woman with glasses. She had anburn colored hair that was tied into a bun and blue eyes. She was glaring at Naruto, but a small nasty smirk played on her face.

"How did you know this place?" Naruto said as he glared, he already knew that they had come here a couple of times.

"That doesn't matter." The woman barked, giving Naruto a cold glare.

Naruto fought the invisible cold shiver down his spine.

"Guess what?" Naruto's foster mother said in a sickly sweet voice.

"You're going to live with us again."

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: I love typing cliffies XD The reason why Kyuubi was so OC in this story was because ever since I heard of him in Naruto as the demon sealed in him, I thought how he would be if he was human. Somehow, I thought of him as a outgoing person who cares a lot for his important people and usually is calm. October 10 IS Naruto's birthday of course, but I don't know about his time of birth, so I made one for him. I will also tell about why Kyuubi has gone slightly mental in the later chapters :D**

**Anyways, hoped you liked it. Also, REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update! I needed to re-write chapter 4 and school is STILL being a huge bitch to me T.T Anyways, since no one voted no for the KakaNaru lemon (-snickers-), I'll write the lemon! Though, that's not going to happen until a few more chapters -laughs evilly-. Though, I'm glad that you guys liked the last chapter (even though it had an evil cliffie and it was sad).**

**I'd like to thank my beta, astarte lea!**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto's eyes widen in shock as he stared at the three. Naruto slowly clenched his hands into fists.

"Why?" Naruto said, his eyes showing anger, but behind the anger was fear.

"Simple, you are in Mishiba and Koyra's custody. Not Umino's." The woman said, annoyance flickered across her face.

"Iruka-sensei was waiting for the adoption forms to be brought to him. I've decided to live with him." Naruto said.

"But, you still have to live with your foster parents until Umino gets his adoption forums." The woman stated.

"..." Naruto stayed quiet.

Naruto paled as he remembered the memories of his foster father's abuse. _'I'm in deep shit.' _Naruto thought. He saw the woman reveal a cocky smirk as she saw Naruto's paleness.

"I always wondered why you did live with your teacher instead of living with us..." Koyra trailed off, her face showing innocence.

_'You fully damn know why!' _Naruto shouted in his mind, his hands curling into fists. Mishiba smirked in triumph. Naruto felt a cold shiver when he saw his foster father's eyes. Naruto slowly walked to the front of Iruka's apartment door.

"Anyways." The woman said as Naruto faced the front door.

"Be a good boy and go get your stuff. Then, meet us outside so we'll get you back home." Koyra continued for the women in an overly fake sweet voice.

Naruto stayed silent, observing the number 7 drilled into Iruka's front door. He tried to control the anger that was starting to appear on his face. Naruto grabbed the keys from his back pocket and opened the door. He walked into the room, ignoring that he shut the door in front of their faces. He dropped the backpack onto the ground. He was now dumbfounded of what had happened a few seconds ago. _'How did this happen?' _Naruto thought. _'Iruka-sensei should have had the adoption forums already and I could live with him. Now...Iruka-sensei is still in the hospital and I'm going back to _them Naruto sat down on velvet couch and curled up into a fetal position.

_'Everything's so messed up.' _Naruto thought, looking at his reflection from the T.V. He dazed off in his thoughts. He didn't know how long he stayed in that position, but he knew he had to move and face them. He slowly stood up and walked into his room. He went into his closet that was next to his bathroom door and grabbed his backpack. He stuffed the possessions into the backpack and after he was done, the backpack was perfectly full.

He turned and looked at the now vacant room, he felt his heart squeeze when he thought of leaving Iruka. _'How am I going to tell Iruka-sensei about this.' _Naruto thought, walking out of the room and into the living room. _'How am I going to survive with them?' _Naruto thought as he shuddered. _'Stop whining.'_ A small voice in his head said. _'You will survive like you have always done. You have done this for 5 years. Soon, someone will come for you.'_ _'Right, I need to stop whining. Whining isn't going to help me.' _Naruto thought in confidence, his hard gaze on the carpet floor.

Though the last part, Naruto did not believe at all. No one was going to come for him. His gazed softened into a sad look. A sharp knock snapped him back into reality. The blonde turned and looked at the front door.

"Are you done yet?" A gruff voice snapped from the door.

"Hold on." Naruto said, knowing it was Mishiba and he was NOT a patient person.

An annoyed scoff was his reply. Ignoring it, Naruto forgot to get his backpack from the room. Naruto rushed to the room, knowing if he went slower, Mishiba would get more furious which led to worse punishment. He quickly grabbed the backpack and rushed outside the apartment.

"What took you so long Demon?" Mishiba snapped as Naruto quickly closed the door, giving Naruto his usual nickname for him.

"..." Naruto stayed silent, his eyes staring at the ground.

Mishiba glared at the top of Naruto's head. Naruto shivered in slight fear at the gaze, but didn't falter. Another scoff was emitted from Mishiba. He roughly grabbed Naruto's right arm and literally dragged him downstairs. Naruto winced as he felt Mishiba squeeze his arm as if the blonde was a prisoner who was about to be hanged. _'That's going to leave a bruise.' _Naruto thought as he used his other arm to grab one of the straps of the backpack.

"There you are Naruto!" Koyra said in an overly sweet voice as she walked towards them.

Mishiba let go of the blonde's arm. Naruto let out a small sigh of relief as he lightly grabbed his right arm, which was the arm that Mishiba had held. The woman, which Naruto was suspecting to be an agent of an adoption agency; her rectangular glasses glinted in the bright sun, which made her eyes look lifeless and evil.

"Now that you've packed all your stuff, it's time for you to go home." The woman said, bitter smile appeared on her face.

"First, can I go see Iruka-sensei in the hospital?" Naruto asked, looking at his foster parents.

"Not today. Let the poor man rest after that terrible incident a few days ago!" Koyra said, a bit of drama was in her voice.

Her fake sweet voice didn't stop Naruto from seeing an evil glint in Koyra's brown eyes, nor seeing the same glint in Mishiba's blue eyes. In an instant, he knew.

They were the people who ran over Iruka.

Naruto gritted his teeth furiously, his fist clenched so tight that they began to turn white. He didn't feel the pain of his fingernails digging into his palm. _'Monsters...' _Naruto thought, glaring at them, knowing they were ignoring it while they were talking to the woman. _'They ran over Iruka-sensei...just to take me and have all the money they could get?' _Naruto began to see red.

"Monster! It's time to go home!" Koyra said, her sweet fake voice had now turned into a seething sound.

Naruto was startled, but kept his glare at Mishiba and Koyra. He noticed that the agent had left. He was now alone with his foster parents. Before, the blonde could speak, he was roughly pushed by Mishiba into their car which was beside him. His chin hit hard on the top of the small blue car and he winced. He quickly got into the car while rubbing his aching chin.

"Hmph, you're still as weak as ever, Demon." Mishiba spat at Naruto, seeing Naruto wince at the hit on his car as he and Koyra sat in the front, he was in the driver's seat while Koyra in the passenger seat.

"It'll make our job easier anyways." Koyra said as she let out a dark chuckle that made Naruto shiver to the core.

Mishiba stayed silent as he turned and looked at Naruto. They met eyes and Mishiba immediately smirked as he saw a flicker of fear for one second. Mishiba turned back and turned on the engine. The car slowly roared back into life and they rode to their house in silence. Naruto fidgeted his fingers on his jeans both nervously and in fear of what was going to happen as soon as they reached the house.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the house. Naruto noticed Sakura with her father, and Ino with her father. All four of them were standing in front of their house, as if waiting for him so they could welcome him back. _'They'll probably do the opposite.' _Naruto thought as he scoffed. Mishiba parked the car next to the lane and all three of them got out.

"Welcome back to hell, Monster." Inoichi, Ino's father, mocked as a cocky smirk appeared on his face.

Mishiba barked out a laugh as if Inoichi had cracked a hilarious joke. Sakura's dad, Dakun (A/N: Does anyone know Sakura's dad's name?), joined in the laughter. Naruto just stood there, taking all the insults and besides, he was use to it, right? Sakura and Ino stood behind their fathers, Ino glaring at Naruto while Sakura kept her gaze on the grass. Sakura's arms were behind her back making her posture look as if she was nervous. She was rubbing her left arm, where one of her 'customers' had left her a small bruise.

After the laughter had died off, Mishiba and Koyra went into the house first while Sakura and Ino's fathers walked towards their house, a light snickering still emitted from them. Naruto clutched one of the backpack straps tightly. He slowly began to walk to the Mishiba's and Koyra's house, but was blocked by Ino.

"Well, looks like the little devil came back like always." Ino said, her voice sounding like a spoiled brat.

"..." Naruto stayed silent, looking at the ground.

"Hey, aren't you listening to me!" Ino shouted a Naruto, her hands on her hips and glaring at the top of Naruto's head.

Sakura stayed silent. _'What am I suppose to do?' _Sakura thought as she looked at Ino and Naruto. _'Should I help him? If I do, Ino will be suspicious and will tell my father that I'm defending the 'demon'.' _Sakura winced slightly at that thought. _'He'll be furious.' _Sakura turned her head and looked at Naruto. _'But...' _Sakura trailed off in her thought. She saw Ino's right hand curl into a fist in anger. As long as Sakura knew Ino, she knew the blonde-haired girl did _not_ like to be ignored, especially when it comes to people she heard or knew were hated. It always reminded her of when her father shunned her every day. The only thing he talked to Ino about was the business or who her next customer was. Ino uncurled her hand, but began to raise it above her head.

"Stop, Ino!" Sakura shouted as she stepped between Naruto and Ino.

"What?" Ino said as she stopped her descending hand.

Naruto snapped his head up and looked at Sakura. The blonde man was shocked to say the least. He knew that Ino was going to hit him from the movement of her shadow, but he never thought of Sakura defending him. _'She's different.' _Naruto thought as he continued to look at Sakura. _'Sure she's still short-tempered, but why is she helping me? Is it out of pity!' _Naruto thought, now glaring at Sakura. Meanwhile, Ino looked at her best friend with a shocked look on her face.

"Why did you stop me Big Forehead!" Ino said, glaring at Sakura.

"...Mishiba will be angry if you hurt Naruto. Besides, aren't ladies suppose to be nice and calm Ino-pig?" Sakura said, her voice filled with mock at the last sentence as she tried to change the subject.

"You're the one to talk Big Forehead! Beside, Mishiba wouldn't care about Naruto's health." Ino said in a huff as she walked towards her house, while looking at Naruto in the corner of her eyes.

This also shocked Naruto. Usually, Ino would send a cold glare at him and call him 'demon' or 'thing'. Never the less, he brushed it off and looked at Sakura. As soon as Ino was in her house, Sakura turned and began to walk to her house. Before she took her first step, Naruto spoke out a single word.

"Why?" Naruto said softly, small frustration in his voice.

"I...don't know myself." Sakura said quietly as she took a deep breath.

It was the truth, she did not know. Once she saw Ino's hand raised above her head, she knew what she was going to do and jumped in front of Naruto out of instinct. She felt some sort of protectiveness towards Naruto, like an older sister protecting her little brother from harm. _'Why?' _Sakura thought. She noticed that Naruto was staring at her, with shock across his face. In an attempt to cover her own confusion, her opened her mouth and began to speak.

"Don't you dare think it was out of pity or get use to it!" Sakura said as she gave Naruto a glare as she placed her hands on her hips.

Naruto looked at Sakura, with a surprised look on his face. Sakura softened her glare and began to smile at Naruto. Then, Sakura herself realized something. _'I don't want to see anyone hurt him. He has a tougher life than me, a boy who was accused of something he didn't do. I knew that, but continued to treat him like trash.' _Sakura thought, immense guilt weighing on her shoulders. _'But, this time, I'm going to help and protect him!' _Sakura thought, feeling confidence throughout her body. Sakura smiled brightly at Naruto and ran off towards her house.

"Eh?" Naruto said in confusion of what just happened a few seconds ago.

_'That...was weird.' _Naruto thought as he shook his head. He walked into his house, clutching one of the backpack straps tightly. He shifted his eyes around the yard, trying to ignore the bright baby blue painted house he was approaching towards. Though, outside the house was very clean and nice, inside it were remainders of ugly memories that hung inside the air of the house. Naruto reached the the front of the stairs and he began to ascend up the stiars. Every step his mind was shouting at him.

First step.

_'What am I going to do?'_.

Second step.

_'How am I going to go through this again?' _

Final step.

_'I'm...not ready for this!' _

Soon, he was in front of a white wooden door. He slowly reached his right hand towards the copper knob, wanting and wishing he wasn't going to go back to this house. He had to though, and he grasped the knob. He slowly turns it clockwise and pushed it slightly forward. Once the door was fully open, he slowly and hesitantly took a step forward. He almost chocked at the thick, tension in the air that spread throughout the room and maybe throughout the house.

_'Nothing has changed.' _Naruto thought as he shifted his backpack from right to left uncomfortably. He closed the door behind him, and stood silently in the living room. After counting to five, he took a step. _'Should I go into the kitchen and meet Mishiba and Koyra or just go to my room?' _Naruto thought, shifting his eyes around the room. He heard stomping footsteps, that creaked against the floor, coming from upstairs. He quickly decided and walked upstairs. Once he went to his old room, he threw his backpack on the bed and looked around.

The room, like the rest of the house, hadn't changed at all . It was definitely dusty from the lack of cleaning in the room, but that was all. The blonde blew slightly on the dusty top of the drawer and sneezed as the dust particles flew to his nose. After many sneezes from Naruto, the blonde managed to clean the room with a cloth he had brought with him. He stuffed his clothes into the drawer and the rest of his items. He closed all the lights in the room, which made the room completely dark except for the silver light casting over the window across the entrance door. Placing his backpack onto the ground near the drawer, he laid himself on the stiff bed. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, trying to get comfortable.

He looked at the clock sitting on a small desk next to him. _'6:00 P.M already?' _Naruto thought as he yawned. He turned around so that he was facing the ceiling and closed his eyes. A minute later, a loud bang was heard outside his room. Naruto stood up out of reaction and stared at his entrance door. Lights peeked at the bottom of the door. Naruto grabbed the blanket from the other end of his bed and threw it over his head. As he pretended to sleep he saw the door opened and large light casting over the dark room. A large shadow then cast over the light.

It was Mishiba.

Naruto quickly shut his eyes and breathed deeply, hoping that Mishiba wouldn't bother him if he's sleeping.

That did not work.

Naruto soon finds himself dragged by the hair and shoved onto the hard wooden floor. He winced at the impact and began to stand up. Bad mistake. He felt immense pain on his shoulder and shouted in pain as he fell down again. He clutched his shoulder and looked up. Mishiba was holding a black leather whip in his right hand and a grin on his face.

"Since, you ran away from us and didn't tell us where you were, it's time for your punishment." Mishiba said as he raised the whip above his head.

Footsteps were coming towards them and Naruto looked through Mishiba's legs. It was Koyra and she has the same grin on her face. Both were grinning like they took pleasured in abusing the blonde.

"This is going to be fun." Mishiba said, his grin widening as he lashed the whip at Naruto again.

_Slash!_ One on his arm.

_Slash! _One on his back.

_Slash! _One on his legs.

_Slash! _One on his chest.

It continued for minutes, but for Naruto, it felt like hours. Finally, Mishiba looked at Naruto with pleasure in his eyes, loving every second of his control over the 'Demon'. He gave one last punch at Naruto in the cheek, walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving Naruto severely injured on the floor. Naruto barely managed to hear the laughter from both Mishiba and Koyra. He looked at the injuries on his body. His arms and legs were slashed to the point where they looked like large cuts. His revealed chest (which was covered until Mishiba tore the top of his pajamas) has some specks of blood on the lashes. He couldn't see the injuries on his back, but he knew they were probably worse.

Taking a small deep breath, the blonde slowly began to stand up, only to fall down in the process. He winced at the immense pain. _'Looks like I'll have to sleep on the floor.' _Naruto thought as he made small movements on the floor. Feeling both weak and drained from what had happened today, he immediately fell asleep lying on the floor.

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Naruto shifted in his sleep and managed to knock his head on one of the legs on the desk. He opened his eyes and looked at the wooden leg. He groaned and rubbed his forehead lightly. The blonde felt pain from moving his arm and looked at it. _'Last night...' _Naruto remembered as he saw the dry crusted blood on his arm. Feeling more energetic, he slowly stood up. Immense pain shot through his legs, back and chest, but he managed to fully get up.

He turned his head to the side and cracked his neck. He walked slowly towards the bathroom and fully looked into the large mirror. The mirror only reflected down to his chest. Naruto winced at what he saw. A large purple bruise was planted on his left cheek and slashes across his chest. There was some dry crusted blood on his chest from some of the slashes. He turned slightly so that he could see his back. The back was the worst. Thought there were only two slashes on his back, they were each about ten inches long.

After seeing his wounds, he took off his pants and went into the shower. As soon as hot water hit softly on him, he grabbed a washing cloth and started to scrub on the crusted blood from his body. After a few minutes, he managed to clean most of the wounds and crusted blood off, but it also made his body bright red from the scrubbing. After he finished washing, he got out and started to rub ointment on his body.

After he finished, he walked out of the bathroom and took out a pair of navy jeans and a black shirt with an orange jacket from his drawer. He also wore the same Nike's from yesterday. As soon as he finished changing into his clothes, a knock was heard behind his entrance door.

"You can come in." Naruto said, hoping that it wasn't Mishiba or Koyra.

The door opened and a female walked in. It was Sakura. She was clutching tightly onto her blue purse as she looked around the room. She turned and looked at Naruto with a smile, but it soon disappeared when she saw his bruised cheek.

"It was Mishiba wasn't it?" Sakura quietly said, talking more to herself than the blonde.

"Who do you think? Why do care so much about me now?" Naruto said, his words coming out more harshly than they were suppose to be.

Sakura winced at the bitter words from Naruto. She stood still, thinking of an answer for him.

"Because...I realized that I didn't want to see you get hurt." Sakura said, looking Naruto straight in the eye.

"That doesn't explain why you care about me now. If your dad found out that you're helping the 'demon'-" Naruto started, but was cut off.

"Don't say that your a demon!" Sakura said, her voice rising in angerly.

Naruto's eyes widen at the outburst.

"If you admit that you're a demon, then that will make everything worse." Sakura said, her voice becoming softer.

"How do you know what it's like?" Naruto said, looking at Sakura with curiosity in his eyes.

"Because, even though we're different, I know how you feel." Sakura said as she looked down at her feet.

"..." Naruto stayed silent, waiting for Sakura to continue.

"I'm sure you heard of the rumor going around about me and Ino..." Sakura trailed off as she began to shuffle her feet.

Naruto thought for a moment as there were many rumors about the two girls. His thoughts turned to rumor that had spread a few weeks ago. People were whispering that Ino and Sakura were prostitutes. Most people did not believe that. Naruto's mind clicked as he looked at Sakura in shock. Her head was up and looking at Naruto. Her eyes told him.

"The rumor was true..." Naruto trailed off, continuing to look at Sakura.

"Yeah, someone saw me with one of my customers. It started eight years ago, after my mother's death. I didn't want to do it, but I wasn't forced either." Sakura said, her eyes lowering in shame.

"..." Naruto stayed silent.

"I just wanted to have a happy family, but things happen I guess..." Sakura trailed off.

"Don't expect me to give any pity." Naruto started, the reply was quiet, but firm.

Sakura looked at Naruto straight in the eye. She nodded, understanding the blonde. _'Accepting pity from people...doesn't do anything good for the problem.' _Sakura thought as she smiled at Naruto.

"I don't expect any." Sakura began.

"Though I can't stop Mishiba from hurting you, I'll do my best to help you." Sakura said as she walked up and stood in front of Naruto.

She turned to her side and dug into her purse, searching for something. Naruto looked curiously at the pink-haired woman, but stayed quiet. The girl smiled brightly as she found what she was looking for. She took it out of her purse. It was a small glass container that contained a blue substance.

"This is an ointment I always use when I have bruise. It works really well." Sakura said as she held out the container to Naruto.

"What about you? You're going to need it too." Naruto said as he looked at Sakura.

"Don't worry, I have lots of these." Sakura said, smiling as she grabbed Naruto's right hand and placed the container in the hand.

"Thanks..." Naruto trailed off as he scratched his scarred cheek sheepishly.

Footsteps were heard from downstairs and a loud curse was also heard. _'Mishiba's mad again.' _Naruto thought as he felt a cold shiver up his spine. Sakura noticed Naruto shivering slightly. _'When Mishiba is mad, he takes it out on a person.' _Sakura thought. _'Meaning he's going to take his anger out on Naruto. I need to get Naruto out of here for a while until Mishiba calms down.' _Sakura thought as she grabbed Naruto's left hand.

"You need to get out of here for a while." Sakura said, looking at Naruto.

"Eh?" Naruto said, surprised, but knowing that the pink-haired girl was right.

"Besides, don't you need to go see Iruka-sensei?" Sakura said as she pulled Naruto's hand lightly.

Naruto winced at the pull, remembering the injuries on his arms. Sakura noticed Naruto winced and let go of his arm.

"Sorry." Sakura said.

"It's ok." Naruto replied, walking with Sakura out of his room and downstairs.

As both of the teenagers walked downstairs, they saw Koyra sitting on the black velvet couch while reading a book. She looked up at the two and smiled at Sakura while giving a hateful glare at Naruto.

"Where are you guys going?" Koyra said, her fake motherly voice showing.

"W-" Naruto began, but was cut off.

"We're going shopping." Sakura quickly said, cutting off Naruto's reply.

"He's going to help me." Sakura continued as she gave Naruto a look, her eyes showing him to trust her.

Naruto only show a small nod.

"Well, have fun Sakura." Koyra said, smiling at the girl.

"Make sure he doesn't run away like last time too." Koyra continued giving Naruto a glare.

Sakura only smiled as she walked out of the front door, Naruto quickly following her. As they walked through the front yard, Naruto saw Ino looking at them in the corner of his eyes. The blonde girl wasn't glaring at him, just staring. Sakura also noticed Ino staring also, and smiled at her. Ino looked at Sakura with shock on her face, but was quickly covered by a scoff and a glare at the two as they passed by. _'I think Ino is starting to think about Naruto as just a boy, not a monster.' _Sakura smiled brightly at the thought.

After they were at the sidewalks, they slow down their pace. They both stayed silent as they went to the hospital. As they reached to the hospital, Naruto looked at the clock that was hanging behind the front office. _'2:00 P.M.' _Naruto read. _'I can go see Iruka-sensei now.' _Naruto thought, smiling at said thought, but it was soon replaced by a frown. _'How am I going to tell him that I'm living with them now?' _People that walked pass them, were giving glares at the blonde's direction, but he was too preoccupied to notice them.

On the other hand, Sakura glared back at them as they walked into the elevator and began acending towards the second floor. In a few seconds, they both stood in front of a door with the number 203 glued onto the door. Sakura turned towards the blonde and noticed nervousness on his face.

"Naruto, I'm sure Iruka-sensei will understand about you living with Mishiba and Koyra." Sakura said, giving Naruto an encouraged smile as she stepped back from the door, thinking that Naruto would want to talk to Iruka alone.

"...Ummm, Sakura, can you...ah...come with me?" Naruto stuttered nervously, scratching the back of his head sheepishly at the girl.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock, but nodded. Somehow, she understood why the blonde asked her to come with him to talk to Iruka. _'He's willing to be my friend.' _Sakura thought, feeling joy burst throughout her body. She smiled at Naruto as he slowly reached for the knob. He grasped it and turned it, making the door open. They both walked into the white room.

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**A/N: I'm SO sorry that there was no mention of Kakashi in here! -sob- I had to develop on Sakura and Ino's character (and no, I'm not going to bash Ino in this story). BUT, I'll promise you guys that there WILL be a KakaNaru moment in the next chapter! Please R&R!**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: HEY!!! I'm not dead yet! XD I'm soo sorry that I didn't update sooner and I have no excuses for the lateness T.T But, I will add that I had soooo much fun writing this chapter!! (Especially the KakaNaru moment!! XD) Also, in this chapter, you'll probabely like my version of Sakura a lot and I'll remind you guys that there won't be any bashing on the story (Mishiba and Koyra is an exception 'cause everyone wants to kick their asses XD)**

**Big thanks to astarte lea for being my beta!**

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"The Creepy White Room." is what Naruto will always call the room that Iruka temporarily lived in. Invisible cold shivers always went down his spine as he entered the room. The strangest thing is that this was the only room that was covered with the blank color. The rest of the hospital rooms were covered with different bright colors. Brushing the curious thought out of his mind, he took another step into the room. Sakura followed behind him, her steps made no sounds on the polished floor.

Naruto's cerulean eyes rested on Iruka. Iruka was sitting up and looking out the window that was beside him, a large blanket rested on his lower half. The sea green hospital gown contrasted with his skin unnaturally. His hair was not in its usual high ponytail but untied, letting his brown hair fall down onto his shoulders. The man didn't move at all as Naruto and Sakura entered the room. No sound was heard in the room. _'Maybe I should say something...' _Naruto thought, shifting slightly uncomfortably. The blonde opened his mouth and spoke.

"Hi, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted cheerfully at his teacher as he smiled brightly also.

"Hey Naruto." Iruka said, his voice hinting that he was surprised that he didn't hear them come into the room.

Iruka turned and began to smile at Naruto. The smile immediately disappeared when he saw Naruto's bruised cheek, ignoring that Sakura was behind the blonde.

"Naruto, what happened?!" Iruka said, his voice filled with concern as he began to shift and take the blanket off his body.

"Don't move Iruka-sensei! You're still injured." Naruto said as he quickly moved towards Iruka, Sakura following behind him in concern.

Iruka stopped what he was doing as Naruto moved towards him. Once Naruto stood in front of the hospital bed, Iruka looked closely at the bruise. The older man's brown eyes reflected concern.

"Who did this?" Iruka demanded, looking at Naruto straight in the eye.

"...Mishiba and Koyra." Naruto replied quietly, his eyes shifting slightly.

"What?! How did-" Iruka shouted, but was cut off.

"They knew where you and Naruto live a few days after Naruto ran away." Sakura explained, remembering the whispers from Naruto's foster parents about Naruto.

"You know about this Sakura?" Iruka asked, looking behind Naruto and staring at the pink-haired girl.

Sakura nodded.

"She's...the daughter of one of my foster parent's friends." Naruto said hesitantly.

Iruka's eyes widen in shock at the comment, but then narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Sakura.

"Why are you helping Naruto if you're one of the people who harmed him?" Iruka asked Sakura, not trusting her at all.

She winced slightly at the bitter question from Iruka, but kept her ground. She stared directly at the teacher.

"I don't want people to harm him again, especially when it comes to the injuries from Mishiba and Koyra." Sakura said with confidence.

"You do know that helping Naruto, you will lose your popularity with the other students." Iruka said, remembering that although other students didn't know what happened six years ago, they still carried the hate for the blonde from their parents.

"I don't care. I just don't want him to get hurt." Sakura said, taking a few steps until she was standing beside the blonde.

Iruka blinked, trying to hide his shock and failed. He is still suspicious of the young woman, but he had to admire that she was confident...either that or she's a good liar. He gave Naruto a warning look. Naruto nodded, understanding completely of the gaze. Sakura looked at her English teacher and the blonde, feeling small pokes of hurt in her heart at the lack of trust. _'What did you expect? You've just decided to help Naruto out of nowhere.'_ Her Inner voice said throughout her thoughts. Sakura mentally shook her head, agreeing with her inner self. After minutes of silence in the white room.

"How did it happen?" Iruka asked as he looked at both Sakura and Naruto.

Sakura also turned to Naruto, waiting for him to explain also. She, herself, did not see the scene or how Mishiba and Koyra managed to bring him back. Unconsciously, he shifted slightly as he felt uneasy under the stares. Never the less, he opened his mouth and retold the scene that had happened yesterday. Iruka's gaze turned to the polished white floor, looking as if the floor was an alchemy puzzle as Naruto continued to explain. Meanwhile, Sakura continued to stare at Naruto, showing that she was listening to every word.

As Naruto finally finished his story, everyone was silent. Iruka raised his eyes back up and stared at Naruto.

"..It's true what the lady said, I shouldn't have let you live in my apartment until I had the adoption forms and that your foster parents had agreed on the adoption." Iruka said, sadness showing in his brown eyes.

"But..." Naruto trailed off, as he slowly formed a happy grin on his lips.

"I'm glad you did."

Iruka's eyes widen at the comment, but quickly recovered. He showed his own smile at Naruto.

"Me too."

Sakura smiled at the moment with Naruto and their teacher. The moment was interrupted when a knock was heard from the outside. The three turned their heads at the sound.

"Come in." Iruka said, loud enough for the person outside to hear.

The copper knob turned and the door was open. A lady with blonde hair and amethyst eyes in a nurse outfit appeared. She smiled at Iruka and Sakura. Though, once she rested her eyes on Naruto, her smiled instantly formed into a sneer.

"I can't believe our security was _that _bad to not notice _it _coming here." The woman whispered to herself.

Naruto lowered his eyes to the ground not in shame, but in sadness. Sakura noticed the reaction and glared at the nurse, feeling a protectiveness alert in her.

"Hey, Naruto just wanted to visit his teacher!" Sakura said, continuing to glare at the nurse.

The nurse blinked.

"That monster has feelings?" The nurse sneered, actually surprised that someone stood up for _it_.

"What! Why you-" Sakura started angrily.

"Sakura, stop! It's ok." Naruto interrupted the pink-haired girl, trying to calm her.

"But-"

"Don't worry." Naruto said as a smile appeared on his face as he looked at Sakura.

Sakura nodded and stayed silent. The nurse blinked in surprise of what just happened a few minutes ago. She shook her head and began to speak to Sakura, completely ignoring Naruto.

"Visiting time is over. So, I need to ask you to leave. You can visit the patient tomorrow." The nurse said, sounding more like a robot reciting an letter.

"Ok." Sakura said as she began to walk towards the exit.

"Just...don't bring that _thing _next time." The nurse couldn't help but add, glaring at Naruto.

Naruto's fist balled up as he turned to Iruka, trying to ignore the nasty comment. Iruka blinked in disbelief and in anger of how many people hated Naruto. _'This is really too much for a kid..' _Iruka thought, as he looked at Naruto. Meanwhile, Sakura was ready to punch the lady in the face and her inner self was only encouraging her more. _'But...I can't cause a scene or else Naruto and Iruka will be in trouble.' _Sakura thought as she sighed, trying to calm the adrenaline in her veins.

"We'll see you later Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as he grinned at Iruka.

"Bye sensei!" Sakura said her goodbye as she and Naruto went through the door and out of the room, ignoring the nurse beside them.

Iruka smiled and waved at the two. Both Sakura and Naruto heard the nurse speaking to their teacher as the door close, but they couldn't hear the words. Sakura looked at the clock hanging on top of the white wall in front of them. _'2:45' _Sakura read as she sighed. _'What are we going to do now? No doubt Mishiba is still angry at something.' _Sakura and Naruto both headed towards the elevators.

_'I have to make sure that Naruto won't be able to go to _that_ house until I'm sure Mishiba is calm enough to forget about Naruto for a day.' _Sakura thought as they stepped into the elevator. _'You know that will never happen.'_ A small eerie voice said in the back of her mind. _'Shut up. He'll calm down in a few hours.' _Sakura thought as she blocked the voice. Though, the voice started to give her doubt in her plan.

"Sakura?" Naruto said, his cerulean eyes gazed at Sakura.

"Huh?" Sakura spoke, her head snapping towards at Naruto in surprise.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, wondering why Sakura hasn't walked out of the elevator once they reached the first floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sakura replied with a reassuring smile as she walked out of the elevator.

Naruto tilted his head slightly at Sakura's back with a curious look, but he soon followed behind the pink-haired girl. Unfortunately, doctors and nurses were at the front entrance and they all stop in shock of what they were doing. Eyes followed Naruto's every move, all of them were filled with shock and horror that _it _was in the hospital. Sakura resisted the urge to stick her tongue out childishly at all of them, but settled with a glare.

The people's gazes were now turned to the pink-haired girl, wondering how would anyone could stand next to _it_. Though, Sakura kept glaring as Naruto ignored the gazes and looked at the front entrance door they were closing in. As they finally reached in front of the doors, both could hear harsh whispers, but kept looking forward. Once they stepped outside at the sidewalk and continued to walk, they took a deep breath they couldn't take in the hospital. They both walked side by side in silence. _'Urgh! What's with all the silence today?!' _Naruto shouted in his mind, feeling the urge to pull his hair. He began to speak, but Sakura beat him to it.

"We still have lots of time left. Want to go to the mall?" Sakura said as she smiled brightly at Naruto, eager to go shopping like most teenage girls.

"Uhh...sure-" Naruto managed to finish before Sakura squealed in delight and grabbed his wrist (gently).

Naruto could barely follow Sakura's sprint as she half sprinted and half-dragged him towards the mall which was, thankfully, not far away from the hospital. Once they arrived at the same mall Naruto had waited for Gaara, the blonde only managed to have a seconds of rest before Sakura began to pull him gently towards the front entrance. As they went into the mall and began shopping, Naruto could only think of one word to describe the whole thing.

Chaos.

Naruto could barely keep up with Sakura's pace. One second she's at a clothes store and the next, she drags Naruto to a shoes store. _'I'm definitely going to lose some weight after this.' _Naruto thought as he chuckled nervously, carrying a medium size bag in his right hand. Sakura stopped as she saw Naruto's nervous chuckle and released her death grip on Naruto's wrist.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, concern in her eyes as she wondered if she was pushing Naruto too hard on the shopping.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly with his left hand.

Sakura looked at Naruto suspiciously, but that was soon changed when she saw a sale in one of her favorite clothing shops. She gave out another squeal and dragged him towards the shop. The shopping chaos continued for hours and hours before Sakura finally sat down on a bench that was beside a small cafe store. Sakura sighed tiredly as she dropped the armful of bags onto the floor. Naruto dropped onto the seat and let out his own tired sigh. _'Need to remember not to agree with girls on going shopping ever again.' _Naruto thought as he dropped another armful of bags to the ground. Sakura noticed the dozens of shopping bags they had on the ground.

"Oops. Sorry about dragging you to carry these." Sakura apologized, giving Naruto a sheepish smile.

"Nah, don't worry! Besides, I'll get some muscles from all this carrying!" Naruto said brightly as he gave Sakura his fox grin.

Sakura' eyes soften at Naruto's grin. She turned her head towards the clock in front of them at the far side of the other wall. _'6:00 P.M' _Sakura managed to read as she squinted. _'Wow. I didn't know we shopped that long.' _Sakura thought as she widen in surprise. _'Mishiba should definitely be calm by now!' _Sakura thought confidently. Again, small doubt began to rise inside her, but she ignored it again.

"Want to go back?" Sakura asked as she turned to Naruto, she didn't dare to say 'home' to him because she knew that place would never be home to him.

"Yeah." Naruto replied as a yawn came from him.

Both Sakura and Naruto stood up and grabbed each armful of bags. They walked outside of the mall and down the streets. They knew they were going to be extremely tired the next morning. _'I'm definitely going to be late for school tomorrow...' _Naruto thought, knowing that he was going to ignore his alarm clock and oversleep. _'Better not, or else Mishiba will get furious and wake you up personally.'_ A voice in the back or his head warned him. He shuddered at that thought and thought that maybe, he would wake up as soon as the alarm clock sounds tomorrow.

As they finally walked towards their houses, lights immediately flashed. Three front doors from three houses slammed open, creating outraged voices from the neighbors that were trying to have a peaceful dinner time.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Mishiba bellowed furiously at the two as he stomped towards them, talking more to Naruto than Sakura.

"Naruto and I went shopping." Sakura said calmly, even though millions of cold shivers came down her spine at the loud bellow.

"Wait, did you say that demon's actual name?!" Koyra said in disbelief at the pink-haired girl as she was behind her husband.

"Sakura! Where were you?" Dakun asked in a worried voice as he approached the two teenagers, but somehow, Sakura knew her father's worried voice was fake.

"Naruto and I went shopping!" Sakura said, clearly annoyed that she had to repeat her self again to another adult and ignored Koyra's question.

Naruto turned his head slightly, noticing Inoichi and Ino was also walking towards them. Either they were wondering why Mishiba was yelling or that they wanted to see what he was going to do to the 'demon', but Naruto knew that it was the latter.

"What's going on?" Inoichi asked, slightly annoyed that all the loud noise from outside interrupted his dinner.

"Sakura and _it _went shopping!" Koyra said with an outraged voice.

"I told you we were going shopping Koyra!" Sakura said as she looked at the older woman as she knew both her and Naruto slightly lied, but nothing more.

"I thought you weren't actually going to go shopping with that _thing_!" Koyra said again, her wrinkled brown eyes widening in surprise.

"Why would you think I was lying that _Naruto _and I were going shopping?" Sakura said as she stretched Naruto's name in her voice, hoping that people would start using his actual name.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Why are you speaking that demon's name?!" Koyra shouted the question again at the pink-haired girl.

"Well, it is his actual name!" Sakura said as she glared at Koyra, hoping at her father would defend her from the yell from the older woman.

Dakun didn't do anything to help her and instead, stayed in the background. The pink-haired girl wasn't surprised at all, since her father hasn't helped her at all except when it comes to her job. Mishiba looked at Sakura as if she has gone insane and snapped his head towards Naruto with fury in his blue eyes.

"What have you done to her?!" Mishiba shouted, veins showing from his throat from all the shouting.

"Wha? I didn't do anything!" Naruto said as he looked at Mishiba, confusion in his cerulean eyes.

"Yes you did! You brainwashed her didn't you?!" Mishiba shouted again, his right hand clenching into a fist and slowly approached the blonde boy.

"I didn't!" Naruto said back as he stood where he was.

_'I will not be blamed for something I didn't do wrong again!' _Naruto thought furiously as he glared at his foster father. Mishiba continued to stalk towards him until he was close enough to reach Naruto with his arms. Mishiba looked at Naruto in surprise that he didn't walk backwards at the distance or that he wasn't showing fear for him.

"Well, looks like that the demon has some backbone now." Mishiba sneered in front of Naruto, trying to see some fear into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto kept his steady glare at Mishiba, no fear was in his eyes. This brought Mishiba into fury.

"_Why you_!" Mishiba growled as he raised his clenching fist above his head.

Naruto kept his eyes open as the fist quickly came down on him. _'I will not be afraid of these people again because of something I didn't do wrong!' _Naruto thought confidently as his eyes showing the same confidence and courage.

However, he didn't receive a punch from Mishiba.

Naruto stood in shock as Sakura ran between him and Mishiba just as the older man quickly descended his fist. He watched as Sakura take the punch for him and fall to the ground from the impact. It took ten seconds before everybody to realize what just happened. As soon as he recovered, Naruto quickly kneeled down in front of Sakura.

"Sakura!" Naruto said as he gently lifted the pink-haired girl with his arms.

"I'm...okay, Naruto." Sakura said as she gave a reassuring smile to Naruto, but winced in pain from the bruise on her cheek.

Sakura slowly stood up and planted herself between Mishiba and Naruto. Dakun finally stepped forward and looked at his daughter.

"Sakura, are you alright?!" Dakun asked an obvious question that Sakura answered already to Naruto.

"I'm fine!" Sakura shouted at her father, angry that he didn't help her at all and only asked her a simple question.

Naruto also stood up, looking at Sakura with still shock in his eyes. Meanwhile, Mishiba was beyond furious at Naruto.

"DEMON! It's all your fault! Return the real Sakura back now!" Koyra screeched angrily at Naruto.

"I am not brainwashed!" Sakura shouted at Mishiba, fury was clear in her eyes.

"It seems that all of you guys are! Can't you see that Naruto didn't do anything wrong six years ago?! Just because you guys are angry because of the deaths of your loved ones, doesn't mean you take it out on a boy that didn't anything wrong!" Sakura said, hoping that they realized their mistakes.

Unfortunately, they ignored Sakura's little speech and continued to glare at Naruto.

"Move aside, Sakura! I'm going to take care of that demon!" Mishiba stated as be begun to crack his knuckle in preparation.

"No. I won't let you." Sakura said as she spread her arms to the side.

"You and what army?" Mishiba said, as he got more and more annoyed at Sakura's antics.

Sakura stood silent as she stood still like a small brick wall that was protecting Naruto. She heard someone walk beside her, helping her. She turned her head slightly and looked in surprise.

Ino stood next to her with her own arms spreading to the side. Inoichi looked in surprise that his daughter was going to help the 'brainwashed' Sakura in protecting Naruto. Sakura smiled brightly at Ino, who in return gave her a small glare. _'I knew she didn't believe that Naruto was a monster.' _Sakura thought cheerfully.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Mishiba as he gritted his teeth.

"Naruto." Sakura whispered as she turned her head slightly behind her.

"You need to run, Ino and I will distract them." Sakura continued, her emerald eyes bored into his cerulean eyes.

"I can't leave you guys! What will happen to you?" Naruto whispered back, concern reflecting in his eyes.

"Don't worry. They won't hurt us since we're the only prostitutes they have." Sakura said, giving Naruto a confident smile.

Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes again and nodded.

"Thank you." Naruto whispered as he turned and ran down the streets.

Inoichi and Dakun did not notice the blonde running down the streets because they were to surprised at their daughters' reaction to protect the 'demon'. Mishiba gave out a loud angry yell when he saw Naruto run quickly down the streets. He stalked off towards one of the trees in their yard and punched in the center of the tree. Sakura and Ino winced at the sound and the look of the tree. The tree had now an imprint of a large fist in the center of it.

Once all of the adults walked towards their own houses in fury of having Naruto escaped again, Ino turned towards Sakura. She only spoke three words to the pink-haired girl before she walked towards her house.

"You owe me."

Sakura smiled at the words. _'I know.' _Sakura thought as she walked towards her own house, wondering if Naruto was okay.

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Naruto continued to run across the streets, never looking back as he feared of seeing Sakura and Ino lying on the ground and Mishiba chasing him. _'Where am I going to stay?' _Naruto thought frantically as he finally stopped after minutes of running. He looked around and felt relief that no one was chasing him. He soon thought of a place to stay. _'Maybe Iruka-sensei's apartment?' _Naruto thought, but quickly shoved that idea away. _'No...I forgot to get the apartment key inside Iruka-sensei's apartment.' _

He heard a crack of thunder and jumped in surprise. He looked up at the sky and felt a small drop of cold water on his nose. The drop of water turned into dozens and dozens of droplets of water everywhere. Naruto began to run again, water hitting his body. _'I need to find a place to stay now!' _Naruto thought as the amount of droplets of water began to double. Soon Naruto suddenly stopped as a thought passed through his mind.

_'What about Kakashi-sensei's house?'_

Naruto didn't have the time to think about it before he ran towards the street where his tutor was. _'11901 Nixu Street.' _Naruto remembered as he recalled Kakashi telling him were his house was in case he had any problems or if something wrong happened after Iruka's accident. It was a bit far, but he managed to find his tutor's house. To Naruto's surprise, Kakashi wasn't living in a mansion nor an apartment, but just a simple house that was slightly bigger than a normal house. Naruto heard another crack of thunder and jumped at the sound. He ran towards the front door. Shivering, he pressed the door bell button beside the door.

"Hold on!" Naruto heard a male voice muffled through the door.

"Kakashi-sensei! It's Naruto!" Naruto shouted through the door, shivering from his soaked clothes.

The door opened and Naruto saw Kakashi with a black sweater and a pair of navy jeans in front of him. He surprisingly wasn't holding his favorite hentai book, but still had his mask and bandage (which was across from his left eye) on.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked as he looked at Naruto's soaked clothes and stepping aside for the blonde to enter.

"I kinda had a problem." Naruto said as he gave Kakashi a small grin, feeling warmth surround him as he entered the house.

Kakashi closed the door and locked it. He turned towards Naruto and noticed the bruise on his cheek. _'It must be his foster father again...' _Kakashi thought. _'I'll ask about that tomorrow. Right now, he needs to change.' _The silver-haired man thought as he looked at the drenched clothes the blonde was wearing. The clothes clung to him like a second skin, showing small curves and muscles through it. Kakashi ignored that thought and motion Naruto to follow him.

"You need to get out of those clothes before you get a fever." Kakashi said as he walked upstairs.

Naruto silently followed him. As Naruto entered the room where Kakashi was, he looked around as Kakashi tried to find some clothes for the blonde. The room was fairly large and had a queen sized bed in the center. There was a large, dark brown, wooden closet at the left of the bed and small table at the right. There was picture on top of the table that showed a young teenage guy who stood in the middle of the picture. He had black hair and black eyes, and was grinning in the picture. He reminded him of Sasuke without the big grin on his face.

Next to him was a teenage girl with short brown hair and brown eyes. She was smiling in front of the picture. The third and fourth person was-

_'Kakashi-sensei and Arashi?' _Naruto thought in surprise. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, but he couldn't help it as he continued to stare at the picture. Kakashi looked to be in his teenager years, but still had the same mask and bandage he always wore. Behind all three was Arashi himself. Like the dark-haired boy, he was grinning in the picture.

"The dark-haired boy is Obito Uchiha and the girl is Rin." Naruto turned his head towards Kakashi in surprise.

'I'm sure you know who the other person is." Kakashi continued, his right eye curving.

Naruto nodded. Kakashi tossed a pair of grey sweats and a black t-shirt. Naruto clumsily caught it in his arms.

"Those are the smallest sizes I have, since I don't have any clothes that could fit you." Kakashi said.

Naruto shook his head to the side, showing that he didn't mind. Kakashi walked out of the room, closing the door to give Naruto some privacy to change. Naruto quickly changed from his wet clothes to the clothes Kakashi gave him. As he finished changing, he noticed that the clothes were really too big for him. The sweats were pooled around him and the t-shirt was down to his knees. The t-shirt began to slip to the side of his right shoulder. Naruto took his left hand and quickly lifted the t-shirt back into its place.

_'This is the smallest size he has?' _Naruto thought as he sweat dropped. He knelt down and rolled up the end of the sweats, making sure that he wouldn't fall down the stairs. Since he couldn't do anything with the t-shirt, he left it and opened the door. As he walked downstairs and looked around for his tutor. He walked into the living room and soon found Kakashi sitting on the velvet couch, looking at the television. Kakashi turned his head and noticed Naruto in clothes that were way too big for him.

"Too big?" Kakashi teased as he chuckled.

"Haha." Naruto said as he pouted.

Naruto walked towards Kakashi and sat next to him. The side of Naruto's black t-shirt began to fall off his shoulders again, leaving exposed tan skin in front of Kakashi. The older man turned his gaze from the television and stared at the smooth tan skin. Naruto felt someone staring at his shoulder and turned.

"Wha-" Naruto began and saw his shoulder exposed again, seeing Kakashi staring at it.

"Eh, pervert!" Naruto shouted as he pulled the t-shirt back, feeling a blush across his cheeks as he tried to glare at Kakashi.

"Hey, your shirt suddenly fell off you shoulder! I couldn't help it." Kakashi explained, his eye curving.

"You-" Naruto began, but was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder.

Naruto squeaked before pouncing on Kakashi and burying his face in the silver-haired man's sweater. _'One minute, he's glaring and shouting at me. The next, he's pouncing on me because of the lightning.' _Kakashi thought as he chuckled. Naruto felt soothing rumbles from Kakashi's chest as the silver-haired man chuckled. _'This feels nice...' _Naruto thought as he instinctively snuggled closer.

"I didn't know you were afraid of lightning Naruto." Kakashi teased Naruto.

"I'm not! It's just that...lightning always surprises me." Naruto muffled through Kakashi's shirt, but Kakashi understood what he said.

"Surprised huh?" Kakashi teased again.

"Hey!" Naruto said as he snapped his head up and pouted angrily.

Naruto and Kakashi's face were only a few inches apart. Naruto looked at Kakashi with curiosity in his eyes, not realizing the blush that was emitting from his cheeks. _'What's behind that mask?' _Naruto thought frustrated as he thought of that question for the thousandth time. Kakashi looked at Naruto's curious eyes and the blush from the blondes' cheeks. _'Cute..' _Kakashi thought as his right eyes curved. Meanwhile, Naruto thought about how he was going to ask Kakashi about taking off his mask or bandage...and he decided to just ask him.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said as he continued to look at Kakashi.

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Um...Can you...take off your mask or bandage?" Naruto asked as his blush turn darker.

"I mean, I want to see how you look like." Naruto continued, his eyes shifted to the side.

"I can't show you my face." Kakashi said as his right eye was back to it's natural; bored look.

"Oh.." Naruto said as he lowered his eyes in disappointment and slightly embarrassed at asking Kakashi that question.

"But, I could show you what's behind the bandage." Kakashi said as he pointed at the bandage that was covering his left eye.

Naruto snapped his head back up and looked at Kakashi with surprise and happiness in his eyes.

"Want to see it?" Kakashi asked, his eye curving at Naruto's forming grin.

Naruto nodded eagerly. Kakashi lifted his right hand and slowly lifted up the bandage. Naruto leaned closer, eagerly too see what's behind the bandage. Kakashi soon exposed his left eye.

Mismatched eyes met cerulean eyes.

Naruto's eyes widen in surprise at Kakashi's left eye. His left eye was red and had a long scar vertically on his eye. Naruto raised his right arm and looked at Kakashi.

"Can I?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." Kakashi said, looking at Naruto one more time before he closed his eyes.

Nodding, Naruto raised his right arm again and began to lightly trace the scar. Naruto stared in wonder as he continued to trace Kakashi's scar. He felt Kakashi relax under the touch. Though in a few seconds, Kakashi's right arm grabbed Naruto's right arm, stopping him from continuing as he opened his eyes. Naruto looked at Kakashi in surprise.

"Sorry." Naruto said.

Kakashi gave no reply as he lean downward towards Naruto. Naruto's eyes widen as he felt the mask material touch his lips. Naruto surprised himself as he relaxed and began to kiss back. _'What am I doing?' _Naruto thought as he felt Kakashi rubbing circles on his back. _'I'm kissing my teacher!' _Naruto wanted to push Kakashi off and yell at him for advancing on him, but...he couldn't. It was then he realized something.

_'Thinking that this is wrong and that Kakashi was too old for me...They were all just excuses.' _Naruto thought as he closed his eyes, melting into the kiss. _'I can't deny it now. I...really like Kakashi-sensei.' _Naruto slowly wrapped his arms around Kakashi's neck and felt the older man's arms wrapping around his waist. The blonde felt Kakashi's hands brushed under the back of his oversized shirt and touching his skin. Naruto felt as if his face was on fire. He tensed slightly and Kakashi noticed it. He pulled his lips back and looked at Naruto. Naruto almost pouted at the loss of contact and opened his eyes.

"You okay? We can stop if you want." Kakashi said as he looked deeply into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto nodded, a deep blush was still on his scarred cheeks. The blonde rested his head on Kakashi's left shoulder as he unwrapped his arms from his neck, looking at the television that was still on. Kakashi leaned his back into the couch, as he shifted comfortably. A smile was hidden behind his mask as they watched the television in each other arms through the night.

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**A/N: Doesn't that make you want to squeal at that KakaNaru moment? This really turned out better than I thought (I thought I was going to make a crappy scene -.-;). Though, it definitely won't be a smooth road for the cute couple (ya guys still remember Sasuke and Neji?). Sasuke will have his moment with Naruto in the next chapter so review!! XD**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys!! -ducks as vegetables are being thrown by the audience- Yes, yes, I know that I haven't update in a LONG time, but that's what you get from school (and two projects that were due within three weeks -.-;). But, I'm back! XD As I promised, there are some SasuNaru in the ending -hears knuckles cracking- eheheheh -.-; **

**I'd like to thanks my ever so patient beta, astarte lea!**

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Naruto kept his eyes closed, not wanting to wake up and begin the morning. _'I want to sleep more. Comfortable.' _Naruto thought as he snuggled closer to his warm pillow.

Why was his pillow moving?

Naruto's eyes shot open and looked up. Kakashi was on his side and his arms were wrapped around his waist and Naruto's head was rested comfortably on the silver-haired man's chest. Naruto felt a blush surfacing on his cheeks. The blonde looked closer at Kakashi's face. _'He sleeps with his mask on?' _Naruto thought in surprise. Naruto stared at the scarred eye. _'I wonder how he got that scar?' _

Naruto mentally bashed his head. _'I'm asking too many questions.' _Naruto thought as he instinctively pouted. He shifted slightly from the position and managed to get up without Kakashi waking. He looked around and noticed he was on Kakashi's bed in his room. _'Kakashi-sensei must have carried me to his room.' _Naruto thought and his blush began to deepen.

He quietly walked towards the door. As he quietly opened the door, he turned and looked to see if Kakashi was still sleeping. He relaxed as he saw Kakashi's slow sleeping movement. He couldn't help the small smile appearing on his face as he walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. The blonde walked down the stairs, a sleepy yawn, that he couldn't let out inside the room, came out of his mouth.

He walked into the living room and turned towards the large closed curtains. He grabbed onto one side of the curtain and pushed the soft material to the side. Out came the sun bursting from the large windows. Naruto covered his eyes with his right arm at the brightness. He blinked to adjust to the brightness and looked outside.

Outside was...beautiful. A fairly large rainbow was high in the sky, showing faded bright colors from the storm yesterday. There were no trace of children outside enjoying the sun, or gawking at the rainbow. The only motions outside were the droplets falling onto the roofs and cars slowly passing by.Though, Naruto didn't mind. He stood in front of the window, watching the calm after the storm. After a few minutes of watching outside, he nearly jumped into the air as he felt two pairs of arms wrap around his waist.

"Eh?!" Naruto squeaked out as he turned to his right shoulder and relaxed as he saw Kakashi, but a blush still appeared on his face.

"Morning." Kakashi said tiredly as he rested his chin on Naruto's right shoulder.

"Did I wake you?" Naruto asked, wondering if that's the reason Kakashi woke up.

"Yes, you left." Kakashi said as he nuzzled the blonde's neck lovingly.

Naruto kept silent, trying to fight off the blush that was starting to go into deeper and deeper shades of red. Kakashi turned his head slightly up and looked straight at the purple bruise on the blonde's cheek. He lifted his head up from Naruto's shoulders and unwrapped his arms from around the blonde. Naruto turned around and looked at the older man with confusion in his cerulean eyes.

"We need to take care of that bruise." Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto's bruise.

"Along with the other injuries you have."

Naruto nodded, and blinked as he remembered that he still had the ointment that Sakura gave him in his jeans. _'Maybe I should try that ointment.' _Naruto thought. As if on cue, part of the shirt he was wearing slid down on his right shoulder and left exposed tan skin again. _' Besides, I really want my clothes back.' _Naruto thought scowling as he lifted the shirt back into place.

"Kakashi-sensei. Do you know where my clothes are?" Naruto asked as he walked towards and stood beside Kakashi.

"Yeah, they're in the laundry room." Kakashi said, his eyes curving.

"Eh...where's that?" Naruto asked as he smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"We'll get your clothes later, but right now, we need to take care of your injuries." Kakashi said.

"But, Kakashi-sensei. I need to get something from my clothes." Naruto said as he looked at Kakashi with pleading eyes.

"...Alright. Follow me." Kakashi said, sighing in defeat as he walked out of the living room.

Naruto quickly followed him and walked side by side with him since the hallway was big enough. _'I wonder...Kakashi-sensei and I. What are we?' _Naruto pondered. _'I mean are we still a student-teacher relationship or are we...lovers?' _Naruto thought a he blushed at the thought of them being lovers.He snapped back into reality as he noticed they stepped out of the hallway and into a room.

Blank walls spread around the laundry room. Naruto felt a sense of déjà vu as he stepped onto the soft white carpet. _'I'm seriously starting to hate white.' _Naruto thought as his left eye twiched, annoyed that he was seeing so many blank walls. He looked around and noticed a navy colored washer and dryer at his right. His clothes were spread out on both of the machines.

Naruto turned and reached out with his right hand towards his clothes. He grabbed his clothes and reached out to get the small ointment from his back pocket. He found the item as it brushed against his fingers. He pulled it out and showed it to Kakashi.

"A friend of mine gave this to me." Naruto said, looking at Kakashi.

"She said it works really well." The blonde continued as he grinned brightly.

Kakashi nodded. Naruto walked out of the laundry room (which he was glad to get out of) and went into the closest bathroom he could reached to (thankfully, it was next to the laundry room). Kakashi followed behind him. As they reached to the door of the bathroom, Naruto turned around and looked at Kakashi, hoping he would give him some privacy.

Instead, Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Um...Kakashi-sensei, can you give me some privacy?" Naruto asked, his eyes lowering to the ground almost shyly.

"Why?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"So, I can take care of my injuries." Naruto replied his voice was strangely calm, but a hint of frustration was in his voice that told another reason.

_'I don't want Kakashi-sensei to see my injuries...again.' _Naruto thought, his eyes still on the ground as he hoped that Kakashi were to understand and just let it be. Everything was silent until Naruto raised his his eyes from the ground and looked at Kakashi. Kakashi looked at Naruto's eyes and sighed, as if he was expecting Naruto's reaction towards the bruises. The silver-haired man nodded at Naruto, giving him some privacy. Naruto's eyes lit up in relief as he smiled at Kakashi.

He quickly walked into the bathroom and locked the door. _'Why? He clearly has seen you with injuries before, so why hide them now?'_ A small voice whispered in his mind. _'I...don't know.' _Naruto thought as his eyes lowered to the ground, staring at the polished cream floor. He raised his head and looked striaght into the mirror in front of him. He placed the small ointment container on the gray polished sink table in front of him and his clothes on the other side. He quickly took his shirt off and stared at his chest.

The slashes seemed to have closed, but only by a centimeter. Red seemed to form around the scars, showing that it was swollen slightly. His eyes tore away from the mirror and looked at the small ointment container. _'Why? Why do I feel so...ashamed?' _Naruto thought as a scowl appeared on his face. He hastily grabbed the container and opened it. He looked at his reflection and rubbed the ointment onto his chest, still confused about his reaction towards his wounds.

He quickly rubbed the ointment onto his legs and arms, but he only managed to put some of the ointment onto his back. He briefly thought of asking Kakashi for help, but that was quickly rejected and pushed away from his thoughts. After dressing back into his old clothes, he at last put on the ointment on his face. He tightly closed the cap of the container and placed it back into his back pocket. He grabbed his borrowed clothes and walked out of the bathroom. He expected to see Kakashi waiting for him in the hallway, but the silver-haired man wasn't there.

"Eh? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said as he looked around the hallway, wondering where Kakashi was.

He caught a scent throughout the hall. _'Ramen!' _Naruto thought happily, his stomach growled in reaction of the scent. He quickly walked towards the smell and stumbled into the kitchen. He blinked in surprise as he saw Kakashi reaching to grab a bowl of ramen out of the microwave.

"Hm?" Kakashi said as he felt someone stare at him.

The silver-haired man turned around with a ramen bowl in his right hand and saw Naruto drooling at the smell and sight of the ramen bowl. The blonde's stomach growled and Naruto covered his stomach as he blushed with embarressment. He smiled at Naruto and held out the bowl of ramen towards him.

"Here."

Naruto cocked his head to the side like a curious fox, but quickly grabbed the bowl of ramen in front of him.

"Thanks!" Naruto said, a grin appeared on his face.

The blonde quickly sat down on the wooden table near his right and began eating. Kakashi sat next to him and watched as Naruto quickly devour the ramen. The blonde looked at Kakashi. _'Isn't he going to eat?' _Naruto wonder as he cocked his head to the side again. It seems Kakashi knew what he was thinking.

"I'm not hungry." Kakashi said as his eyes curved.

"But, you should eat something." Naruto said as he pouted at Kakashi.

"Nah." Kakashi responded as he waved his right hand back and forth.

_'But-' _Naruto began, but his thought was cut off when he realized something. _'If Kakashi eats, then he will have to take off his mask.' _Naruto thought as he kept silent. Shrugging, he finished his ramen. Naruto grinned in content as licked his lips. He felt Kakashi stare at him and the blonde shifted uncomfortably. _'Why is he staring at me?' _Naruto thought. Both of them sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"Naruto." Kakashi said, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Naruto responded, turning his head towards Kakashi.

"Close your eyes."

"Eh?" Naruto said as he looked at Kakashi curiously.

"Trust me." Kakashi said, his eyes curving.

Naruto nodded. He couldn't see the small glint in Kakashi's eyes as he closed his eyes. He felt Kakashi's hand cover his eyes, like he wanted to make sure Naruto wouldn't peek. He heard a shuffle of a cloth material and something moist licking the corners of his mouth. _'A tongue?!' _Naruto thought in surprise as he opened his eyes, but his sight was blocked by Kakashi's hand.

The blonde blushed uncontrollably as the tongue moved from the coners of his mouth to his lips. He felt a pair of lips met his own. The blonde let out a small squeak as he felt the same tongue licked his teeth. The tongue shortly left the blonde's mouth as the same with the lips. Before that, he gave one last lick of his tongue at the corner of Naruto's mouth again. Naruto heard a shuffle of cloth material before Kakashi's hand was removed from his eyes. Naruto blinked at the lights and looked at Kakashi with a crimson blush across his cheeks.

"Y-you! U-uh." Naruto sputtered as he glared at Kakashi, who was probably grinning under his mask.

"You had some soup left at the corner of you mouth." Kakashi simply said as he shrugged.

"You pervert!" Naruto shouted in embarressment as his blush began to deepen.

Kakashi simply curved his eyes, like he was enjoying Naruto's embarressment. Naruto glared at Kakashi. Then, Naruto remembered about the question about their relationship. Naruto then stared down on the floor, as he shifted nervously in the chair. Kakashi looked at Naruto with a silver eyebrow arched up curiously at Naruto's change of mood.

"K-" Naruto began, but a fairly loud sound came out from the living room.

Naruto immediately jumped up in surprise, which he would have tripped if it weren't for Kakashi. Naruto quickly stood up from Kakashi's embrace and blushed in embarressment. Though, the silver-haired man felt disappionted that he only got to embrace Naruto for only a second. _'No worries.' _Kakashi thought as he looked at the blushing blonde. _'I can wait.' _Kakashi's eyes curved as he smiled.

"Kakashi-sensei, what was that?" Naruto asked, referring to the loud sound.

"Oh, that was the grandfather clock in the living room." Kakashi said as he raised his right hand to scratch his head sheepishly.

_'Grandfather clock?' _Naruto thought as he raised his eyebrow at the older man. The blonde then cringed as he remembered something.

"Damn!" Naruto muttered under his breath as he looked for a clock.

He found one hanging on a wall near his left. The blonde immeadiately paniced as he saw the time.

10:00 A.M

"I'm late for school!" Naruto shouted as pulled his blonde hair in frustration.

Kakashi stared at the blonde as he sweat dropped at the paniced Naruto. _'Looks like I'll have to calm him down.' _Kakashi thought as Naruto began to pace in circles. Kakashi walked up to Naruto and grabbed his shoulders.

"Naruto, calm down." Kakashi slowly said to the blonde.

"But-mmph!" Naruto began, but was cut off as Kakashi kissed him.

Naruto stood straight as he felt the soft material on his lips. A second later, Kakashi pulled back as he smiled at the blushing blonde.

"W-what." Naruto sputtered again.

"What was that for?!" Naruto finished, glaring at the smiling Kakashi.

"You were panicing too much. I had to calm you down somehow." Kakashi explained, his eyes still curving in amusement.

"...Pervert." Naruto muttered.

"Anyways, I can take you to school." Kakashi said as he began to walk upstairs.

Naruto cocked his head curiously, but stood in the kitchen. A few minutes later, Kakashi came back downstairs with his usual bandage across his eye. Also, the silver-haired man changed his clothes into a pair of jeans and navy shirt with a black vest.

"Wait, what about my uniform?" Naruto said, now beginning to pace at the thought.

"Don't worry." Kakashi said as he sighed, but had to smile at Naruto's cuteness.

"Just tell them that you've lost your uniform." Kakashi said as he placed both his hands on Naruto's shoulders to stop the blondes' pacing.

_'But, I suck at lying.' _Naruto said in his mind, but he kept silent. The blonde followed Kakashi towards the garage. Kakashi opened the door and walked down the garage. He pressed a button near the door and the garage door opened, the sun slowly creeping into the dark place. The silver-haired man grabbed his sets of keys from his back pocket and with a click, the car doors of his black dodge truck opened.

Both of them got in with Naruto in the passenger's seat. The truck's engine roared into life as Kakashi drove down the streets. They were both were silent though most of the time. _'Should I ask him now?' _Naruto questioned in his thoughts, referring towards the question he was going to ask until the grandfather clock interrupted. _'Ask him now.'_ A voice in the back of his mind said. Naruto quietly agreed and began to break the silence.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto began, looking at the older man.

"Hm?" Kakashi said, but kept his eye on the road.

"W-what...eh...um." Naruto stuttered as he tried to figure out how to say his question.

"What are we?" Naruto finished his question as he blushed in embarressment.

"What do you think?" Kakashi replied back, his eye looking at Naruto before darting back to the road.

"...I don't know." Naruto said, fiddling his fingers nervously as he looked at the road also.

The ride went silent again throughout the trip towards the school. Kakashi slowly drove his truck towards the front entrance of the school.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, forcefully grinning at Kakashi as he felt confused with his feelings.

As Naruto grabbed the handle of the truck and opened the truck door, he felt a hand grasp his left wrist. Naruto turned his head towards Kakashi with curiosity in his cerulean eyes. With a light yank, Naruto felt himself pulled towards Kakashi and the older man kissed him through his mask.

"Didn't I tell you that you don't have to smile when you don't want to?" Kakashi whispered softly, looking at Naruto in the eye.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at both the remark and kiss. Never the less, Naruto got out the truck as soon as Kakashi released his grip. Naruto shut the door and looked at Kakashi. Kakashi's eye curved as if he was smiling at Naruto and drove off. Naruto turned towards the entrance, not bothering to see the truck leave as he walk into the school. He immediately turned his head towards the clock hanging at his left on the wall. _'11:15' _Naruto read. _'Just in time for gym' _The blonde quickly ran towards his gym class. As he walked into the boy's locker room, the blonde felt eyes staring at him like he was some sort of experiment.

"Oi, Blonde! Where were you?" Kiba shouted throughtout the locker room as he saw his friend standing at the front door.

"What happened to your face?" Kiba asked, looking at Naruto's light bruised cheek.

"Accidentally hit myself on the floor." Naruto lied, grinning nervously.

"Uh huh..." Kiba said as he raised his eyebrow suspiciously at the blonde.

"Hey Naruto." Chouji interrupted the conversation quietly, munching on a bag of vegetable flavor chips.

Chouji never liked gym, nor was he good at it too. Plus, Gai was always trying to get him to not eat the bag of chips during the period...That has yet to succeed.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru said with his usual greeting to Naruto as he gave the blonde a bored look as always.

"..." Shino's greeting to Naruto as he looked at the blonde.

"Yeah, enough of the greetings. So, where were you? Ya skipped half of the classes." Kiba said as he looked at Naruto.

"Er..well." Naruto stuttered as he scratched his right cheek nervously.

"Naruto!" Lee shouted as he ran towards Naruto with flowers in the background.

"Er...Hi Fuzzy brows." Naruto said as he dodge the running Lee from hugging him.

"Yeah...Anyways-" Kiba tried to continue again, but was cut off by his question when Gai burst into the locker room.

"Ah youthful student! Time to go out and let your flames of youth blossom!" Gai said, with fire in his eyes that made everyone but Lee sweat drop.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee said with stars in his eyes as he clasped his hands together at Gai.

"Lee!" Gai shouted as he ran towards Lee and hugged him.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee said again as he hugged Gai back.

All of the students quickly ran (except Naruto who changed into his gym clothes then ran) outside as soon as they saw the backround of a sunset surrounding both of the men. _'I think I need to thank Fuzzy brows.' _Naruto thought as he walked into the gym. _'If it weren't for them, I would have to answer Kiba's question.' _Naruto thought, knowing that Kiba's would ask him every minute until Naruto actually tell him the truth.

"Lee and Gai-sensei really need to stop that." Kiba said as he referred to the scene in the locker room, forgetting the question he asked to Naruto.

"Yeah.." Chouji said as he ate another chip.

A few seconds later, Lee and Gai jumped into the gym with a grin on their faces. _'Uh oh.' _Naruto thought as he stared at the two. Every time both of the two grinned, everybody knew that something bad was going to happen.

"Students!" Gai said as he grinned, showing his bright, shiny teeth.

"You guys are going to learn how to do CPR!"

A long gap of silence swooshed throughout the room. A single word from one of the students broke the silence.

"WHAT?!"

Protests erupted from the students. Some dared to thank Gai because of the chance to kiss someone they like without getting hit. Though, Naruto and his friends were the protesters. Gai closed his eyes as if he was ignoring the shouts from the students. Still, many people contiued to protest which made one of Gai's huge eyebrows twitch.

"Now youthful students! This will only take a few minutes." Gai said as he grinned again.

People continued to protest.

"This also counts 25 percent of your grade."

Everyone immeadiately went silent.

"Now, there are no worries!" Gai said with his hands on his hips as he grinned.

"All I need is a person who can do CPR."

Silence contiued, no volunteers.

"Hmm, then I'll just have to pick one. Ah, Uchiha!" Gai said as he pointed at Sasuke.

Sasuke scowled darkly as he gave Gai his famous cold glare. Gai seemed to be unfazed by the glare. _'Looks like Teme is going to get kissed.' _Naruto thought as he snickered. _'I wish I had a camera to tape it.' _Both him and Kiba looked at each other and grinned, excited to see which unlucky person was going to get kissed. Meanwhile, the girls in the gym were squealing and raising their hands in hope of being the person to be kissed by the popular Uchiha.

"Ah, how about you Naruto?"

Naruto stood stiff as he and everybody else stared at their gym teacher as if he was crazy.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted at Gai.

"You can't can't do that! Naruto is a guy!!" Kiba said in protest.

"Ah, but I can. I have gone through this with the principle himself and he has agreed whether it's with a both boys or both girls or a girl and a boy!" Gai said, intense fire was in his eyes that made everyone sweat drop.

_'Principle Saturobi agreed to that?' _Was the question of disbelief on all of the student's minds.

Unfortunately, Gai didn't hear the cracks of girls' knuckles, nor the cold glares he was recieving. Neji and Gaara were watching at a distance from the crowd and immediately disliking their gym teacher's choice. Now, they were glaring at Gai who, again, seemed unfazed by it. _'Is this guy immuned to glares or something?' _Naruto thought as he looked at the many students glaring at Gai.

"Then it's settled! Sasuke and Naruto, come over here!" Gai said, gesturing at the two boys.

Sasuke walked towards Gai, a small smirk appeared on his lips, but no one saw it. Though, Naruto stood still, not moving at all from his spot. Sasuke turned his head towards Naruto.

"What, you scared Dobe?" Sasuke taunted, giving Naruto a challenging glare.

"What?! I'm not scared Teme!" Naruto replied back, a tiny blush surfaced across his cheeks.

Naruto hesitantly walked toward Sasuke and Gai. _'I can't believe I'm doing this.' _Naruto repeated over and over in his mind, as he glared at the Uchiha. As he stood beside Sasuke, Gai said to the students to sit down. All students obeyed and watched in disbelief of what is going to happen.

"Ok. Sasuke will give CPR to Naruto. Naruto, lay down." Gai said.

Naruto slowly lied down, scowling at the thought that he going to recieve CPR from his rival. _'Why me?' _Naruto thought as he stared at the ceiling of the room. Meanwhile, Kiba shook his head as he showed sympathy for his best friend.

"Now, Sasuke. You're going to perform CPR on Naruto." Gai instructed.

The dark-haired boy said nothing and walked towards the laying blonde. Sasuke concealed his smirk as he saw Naruto scowling. The Uchiha kneeled nest to Naruto and pinched his nose. Sasuke leaned closer towards Naruto's face until they were a few centimeters apart. A blush began to surface the blondes' cheeks. Sasuke pressed his lips on Naruto's own and began to blow into his mouth. Naruto felt his cheeks puff slightly from the air in his mouth, but also felt something in his mouth.

Sasuke's tongue.

Naruto pressed his hands against Sasuke's chest and pushed him hard in reaction. Everybody gasped in surprise as a meer blonde boy pushed the great Uchiha. Though, Neji, who had a intense glare at the Uchiha, now had a smirk across his lips at the scene that just happened.

" Teme! What the hell what for?" Naruto said as he pointed accusingly at the Uchiha.

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Gai said, raising one of his large eyebrows.

"That per-" Naruto began, but was cut off by the sound of the bell.

Everyone left before Naruto could finish his sentence. Naruto glared at Sasuke, who in return, smirked back as the dark-haired boy walked past Naruto. The blonde felt Sasuke's hand brush across the side of his waist. He blushed at the contact, but continued to glare at him. Naruto felt someone stare at him and turned towards to source. He saw Gaara standing in the shadows, staring at him. Naruto's eyes soften sadly before turning and running towards the boy's locker room.

_'Looks like I'll have to tell him sooner than I thought.' _Gaara thought as he slowly walked across the room. He knew that he was going to be late, but he also knew that his teachers wouldn't even notice it and just try to be on his good side like always. _'But first.' _Gaara continued his thoughts.

_'Looks like I'll have to take care of Mishiba and Koyra.' _

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**A/N:D Looks like Gaara knows more about Naruto than we thought eh? Oi, soo many kisses in this chapter (Naruto, you playboy XD). Anyways, please review!! **


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: . I've updates early!! XD Just to say I'm SOO sorry about the last update -.-; This chapter is kinda like a break from all the crazy NejiNaru, SasuNaru, and KakaNaru scenes (of course we all don't mind that XD). It's a bit shorter than usual, but I think I did well :D**

**Love to thank astarte lea for betaing my stories : )**

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"He WHAT?!" Kiba shouted throughout the whole locker room as he stared at his best friend.

"Sssh! Quiet!" Naruto whispered harshly at Kiba as he saw many stares aiming towards them.

"He fre-" Kiba began loudly, but was cut off when Naruto quickly slammed his right hand over Kiba's mouth.

"Stop shouting!" Naruto whispered as people continued to look at them.

The blonde waited until he saw everyone get back to what they were doing. After that, he released his hand from Kiba's mouth and glared at him.

"What?" Kiba asked, raising his eyebrow at Naruto.

Naruto continued to glare at him as he reached into his locker and grabbed his clothes. Remembering his scars, he walked towards the bathroom to change. _'Thank God my gym shirt was long enough to over the scars on my arms.' _Naruto thought as he went into a stall closest to him and began changing. As he finished changing and walked out of the bathroom, he felt a gaze on him. He turned towards the source and found that his friends, Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara were looking at him. The blonde felt his eye twitch.

"What?" Naruto said.

"Blonde, where's your uniform?" Kiba said, pointing at his clothes.

"Er...well..they kinda got lost." Naruto lied, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"How did they get lost?" Kiba asked, folding his arms across his chest as he looked at Naruto with suspicion in his eyes.

"Eh..." Naruto said as he looked around for something that would help him.

"Hey! We gotta go!" Naruto said as he pointed at the clock hanging at the side of the boy's locker room.

"Hey, hold-" Kiba began, but Naruto was already out the door and into the hallway.

"What's with him?" Chouji asked as he grabbed a chip and munched on it.

"Dunno, but something's going on." Kiba replied as he stared at the front entrance of the boy's locker room.

"Even if Naruto has a problem, he'll tell us if he wants to." Shikamaru said as he walked beside Chouji and Kiba with the same bored look on his face.

"Before that, we'll just wait. It'll be too troublesome to find it out on our own." Shikamaru said as he slowly walked out of the room.

Kiba frowned at the thought, but he had to agree with the genius. _'Shikamaru's right.' _Kiba thought as he grabbed his jacket, which had Akamaru inside. _'But, genius' advice aren't always one hundred percent good for everybody.' _Kiba thought as he smirked, forming a plan to figure out about finding out Naruto's strange attitude. Akamaru felt his master begin creating a plan and was torn between encouraging his master's plan or going against it because he felt that it was somehow wrong. So, Akamaru kept silent as Kiba, Shino, and Chouji walked down the hallway and towards their separate classrooms.

-------------------------------------------------------------------**6th Period**-----------------------------------------------------------

Naruto sighed in relief as he managed to take a seat right before the bell rang. Their teacher, Anko, shut the door immediately after the bell rang, leaving students outside exasperated as the door slammed in their face. Anko turned around and looked sternly at all of the students that had managed to get to class in time. Though, the students didn't notice the stare and continued to talk.

"Alright maggots! Quiet!" Anko shouted throughout the room.

The students immediately went quiet. Anko was their history teacher. The students didn't know how or why their principle, Sarutobi-sama, thought of making Anko their teacher, even though she was perfect for it. Anko loved history, especially when it came to the battles. Some students feel their stomachs churn as Anko described the battles and the gruesome wounds that were inflicted on the soldiers. Anko stared out of the corner of her grey eyes at Naruto. A purple eyeborw rose in curiosity as she stared at the blonde's bruise, but ignored it.

"Hey you! Uh..." Anko shouted towards Naruto, but froze to scratch the back of her head in embarrassment as she tried to figure out the blonde's name.

"It's Naruto." The blonde said, as he looked at Anko.

"Yeah, Naruto! Where's your uniform?" Anko said as she looked at Naruto.

"Ehh...I lost it?" Naruto said almost like a question as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

To Naruto and all of the students' surpirse, Anko actually thought Naruto was telling the truth.

"Really? Well then, I'll just send you to the laundry room and there you'll get a new uniform." Anko said as she grinned at Naruto.

"Ehh, ok." Naruto said, blinking in surprise.

"But...where's the laundry room?" Naruto said again as he scratched his cheek sheepishly.

"You don't know? Then, I'll send someone to escort you there." Anko said as she looked around for someone to order around.

Sasuke and Neji quickly stood up gracefully. They looked at each other and glared, already setting a challege for each other. Then they sharply turned towards the teacher.

"I'll escort Naruto." Neji said quickly, asking faster than Sasuke by 0.13 seconds.

"I'll help the Dobe." Sasuke said as he glared at Neji.

Tension began to fill the room as the boys continued to glare at one another. Anko scowled at the two people competing to just escort Naruto to the laundry room. _'Kids these days.' _Anko thought. Meanwhile, Naruto shivered as he heard ominous cracks of knuckles from the girls. Naruto looked at Anko and mentally begged to her. _'Please pick someone other than those two!' _Naruto pleaded in his mind as he began to feel another wave of hate aiming towards him. Anko searched around for someone besides the two boys standing.

"Ah! Sabaku, would you like to show Naruto where the laundry room is?" Anko asked as she looked at the red-haired boy sitting in the back.

Naruto paled visibly, but then sighed in relief when the glares and cracks of knuckles subsided. Gaara looked at Anko and nodded. The red-haired boy stood up and walked down the row. He ignored the glares aimed towards him and continued to look straight ahead. Naruto shifted uncomfortably as Gaara came closer.

"Follow me." Gaara said quietly as he walked towards the door, his eyes flicking towards Naruto for a second.

Naruto could only nod and follow Gaara out the door.

"Right! Now, time for me to tell you about the battles in World War II!" Anko shouted in the class, grinning like a mad woman.

The last thing Naruto heard before closing the door was the horrified gasps and groans of fear. Naruto walked behind Gaara, an unsettling train of questions were in his mind. _'Why did Gaara volunteer to help me? Doesn't he hate me?' _The last question made a small pinch of pain in Naruto's heart. _'Are you sure he hates you?'_ The voice in his mind spoke again. Naruto shook his head. _'I know he hates me. I'm a murderer...right?' _Great, he's even questioning himself now. Naruto collided with something solid and took a step back from the force of the impact.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"We're here." Gaara said plainly as he turned and looked at the door to his left.

A blue door was across their left with a sign 'Laundry Room' across the top. Both walked towards the door side by side. As they stood in front of the door, Naruto turned and gave Gaara a quick grin.

"Um...thanks for the help." Naruto said as he scratching the back of his head sheepishly while looking at the marble floor in front of him.

"..."

A small frown was across Naruto's face for a moment before a smile replaced it as he snapped his head back up. The blonde opened the door and went in the room. Naruto stared at the massive room as he closed and locked the door. The room had lines and lines of uniforms in rows like an enormous closet. The girl's uniforms were at the left while the boy's uniforms are at the right. The smallest sizes were closer towards the door and gradually went to bigger sizes at the back wall. Two bathroom doors were at each side of the wall.

_'Why does the school need so many uniforms?' _Naruto thought as he walked down the boy's aisle, finding the size for him. It took him a couple of minutes to find his size. He walked back towards the entrance was headed towards the bathroom on the right. The bathroom door seemed to just lead to a fairly large bathroom. Naruto quickly changed and walked out of the bathroom with his other clothes hanging on his right arm. Naruto walked out of the laundry room and looked around.

He almost jumped in surprise when he saw Gaara waiting for him as he leaned on the wall to his left.

"Eh?! What are you doing here? I mean, I know where to go now." Naruto said, scratching his head nervously.

"..." Gaara stayed silent as he continued to stare at him.

"Ummm..." Naruto trailed off as he shifted uncomfortably.

Out of nowhere, Gaara took out something from his front pocket. It looked like a small envelope that was slightly crumpled on the edges. Gaara reached it out towards the blonde as if asking for him to take it. Naruto hesitantly reached out and took the envelope.

"What's this for?" Naruto asked as he looked at Gaara with confusion in his eyes.

Gaara stayed silent and stood up straight. Then he turned and began to walk down the hallway behind Naruto. Just as Gaara past Naruto, he said something.

"Don't you dare think that I would call or think of you as a murderer or a monster. Don't ignore me."

Naruto's eyes widen in surprise, but before the blonde could reply, Gaara had quickly past him and walked down the hallway. Naruto turned around and looked at Gaara's retreating back. A smile was across the blonde's face. _'He doesn't hate me.' _Naruto thought, a burst of relief and happiness erupted throughout his body. The blonde looked at the small envelope in his right hand. Out of curiosity, he carefully opened the envelope and took out the item that was in it.

It was a photo showing a playground with a sunset overshadowing it. A young boy no older than ten was sitting on a broken swing alone.

A painstaking headache hit Naruto like a rock. Naruto instinctively held his head in his hand in pain and kneeled over. _'W-wha-?' _Naruto manage to think as he shut his eyes to block the pain. Naruto waited for the pain to stop, and it did a few seconds later. Naruto's eyes opened and he slowly stood up. _'What was that?' _Naruto thought as he blinked in confusion. He looked at the photo in his hand again.

Nothing happened.

_'Why do I feel like I've seem this before.' _Naruto thought, but quickly erased that statement. _'No, I haven't seen this before. I've felt like I've beenthere before.' _Naruto turned the back of the photo to see if there's any other information that could help him. Instead, something else was written and not about the picture.

"Meet me after school on the running track field." -Sabaku

After reading the note, the bell rang. Naruto quickly placed the photo back into the envelope and stuffed the envelope in his back pocket. Immediately, students began to rush out of their classes, still frowning and groaning about Mondays. Remembering that he left his stuff in his history class, he ran to the class, quickly grabbed his stuff before Anko could speak, and ran out of the classroom. As he ran across the hallway, he accidentally bumped into someone, causing to have both of them knock their stuff out of their hands and onto the ground.

"Sorry!" Both Naruto and the person said and both quickly reached down to grab their papers and binders.

"Naruto?" The person said, surprise was in her voice.

Naruto looked up in curiosity of how the person knew his name.

"Sakura?" Naruto said with the same surprise in his voice.

Sakura knelt in front of him with some of her papers in her left hand and some of his papers in her right. Her hair was let down, but a fairly large bruise was on her cheek. _'Mishiba.' _Naruto thought.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura said cheerfully as she grabbed her papers and gave Naruto his papers.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok?" Naruto asked as he took his papers and pointed with his other hand towards Sakura's bruise.

"Yeah, it doesn't look as bad as it seems. Mishiba didn't hit me that hard." Sakura said reassuringly as she grabbed her binder and stuffed her papers in it.

"That's good..." Naruto said with relief as he also grabbed his binder and did the same with his papers as Sakura.

"Where did you go?" Sakura said as they both stood up.

"Um...to a teacher's house." Naruto said scratching the back of his head sheepishly as they both walk down the hallway.

"Hmm...it is Kakashi's house?" Sakura quietly so no one could hear her, a hint of teasing was in her voice.

"W-what?!" Naruto stuttered with a large blush across his face.

"I'm just joking Naruto." Sakura said as she giggled at Naruto's reaction.

"Not funny." Naruto said as he puffed up his cheeks.

Sakura just smiled at Naruto's reaction. As they continued to walk down the hallway, more and more students went into their classes. Soon, the hallways were nearly empty except for a couple of students running down the hallways to get their class that was across the school.

"Soo, what happened after I left?" Naruto asked as he looked at Sakura.

"Well, Mishiba and Koyra just stayed in their house. Ino's dad and mine didn't speak to us at all." Sakura said, but noticed Naruto's eyes.

"But, we're use to that! I mean, besides, Ino and I were glad to help you out." Sakura said as she smiled brightly towards Naruto.

Naruto smiled back, his shoulders loosened in relief. Sakura then remembered something she heard a few minutes ago in her 6th period class and suddenly stopped.

"Huh?" Naruto said as he turned his head towards Sakura.

"Is it true..." Sakura said, her bangs covering the emotion of her eyes.

"Is it true that you kissed Sasuke?"

"E-e-eh! N-no! The stupid gym teacher made us do it for 'CPR'!" Naruto protested, his hands in front of his face in defense.

"But you still kissed him." Sakura said, her bangs still covering her eyes.

Naruto shivered. Was it him or was he feeling another dark aura around the pink-haired girl again? After a few second of silence, Sakura raised her head and looked at Naruto with a smile. _'Huh?' _Naruto thought as he blinked in confusion.

"I won't be upset or angry at you for that Naruto." Sakura said with a smile still planted on her face.

"But..." The pink-haired girl trailed off, a big dark aura surrounded her again.

"If you kiss Sasuke again, because of the teacher or not..." Sakura left her statement unfinished as she cracked her hand ominously like the girls in Naruto's last class.

Naruto shivered and nodded, immediately understanding what she said. After seeing Naruto nod, Sakura stopped cracking her knuckles and smiled brightly at the scared blonde.

"Right! Here's my class, so I'll see you later!" Sakura said as she waved and quickly went into the class at the right.

Naruto managed to wave back. As Sakura closed the door, the blonde shivered. _'Scary...but nice.' _Naruto thought, a small smile was on his face as he ran towards his next class: Art. As soon as Naruto sat down on his stool, which had a painting stand in front of it, the bell rang. The blonde sighed in relief that he wasn't late and looked for the teacher. There his teacher was, sitting on a medium height chair with Shikamaru on the other side of the table. They were playing Go as usual and again as usual, had the exact same bored face.

Asuma was Sarutobi's son. Again, Naruto and the other students never knew how or why Sarutobi picked his own son as an art teacher when he just usually sat around the classroom or played Go with Shikamaru...until everyone saw the pictures Asuma drew himself. Many pieces of artwork by Asuma hanged on the wall...most good and many beautiful. There were many varieties of paintings, some that were just places, some animals, and sometimes everything was placed together.

Naruto's favorite amongst Asuma's artwork was the picture of nine demons inside a cage, clawing and grasping the bars in anger. The blonde asked him about the picture and Asuma said that they were the nine legend demons during 600 A.D. They were said to be sealed inside humans, mostly children.

"But, it's only a story for parents to tell their children." Asuma explained.

Naruto only nodded. Suddenly Asuma sighed, Shikamaru had beaten him again in another game of Go. Though, that's kinda what you expect when playing a strategy game with a boy who has an I.Q of over 200. Asuma took his eyes off the game board and looked at the students that were seated in the stools they were assigned to.

"Draw how you guys felt during the weekends." Asuma said as he then turned towards Shikamaru, asking for a rematch again as always.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, but none the less, accepted the challenge.

There are sometimes that Shikamaru draws, but that's rare because of Asuma's challenges to him for a game of Go. Of course, no one was bothered by it because this was the class they chose as one of their electives. Never the less, students grabbed their pencils and began planning their drawing. Naruto was one of the students as he thought furiously about his drawing. Then, he remembered yesterday. _'The storm...' _Naruto remembered. Now knowing what to draw, Naruto raised his right hand that was holding the pencil and began to draw.

At first, he sketched it lightly so he could erase the errors easily without any proof of them actually showing. After that, he placed the pencil back on the painting stand and grabbed a thin painting brush. With quick strokes of paint on the drawing, Naruto finished his picture. The blonde looked at the picture, smiling proudly at how he drew it. He felt someone staring at him and turned his head towards the right.

"Oh, hey Hinata." Naruto greeted, grinning brightly at the shy girl.

"Ah! H-hi, N-n-n-aruto." Hinata stuttered in her greeting, her index fingers were push together shyly.

Hinata Hyuuga, Neji's cousin, also had a crush on Naruto, but he's too dense to see or notice it. Neji and Hinata weren't very close, in fact Neji despises her because of their 'ranks' in their family. Hinata was born into royalty...literally. In the Hyuuga family there are the families that are born to become and heir or heiress to the Hyuuga's immense fortune and their famous technology company.

While, the other half of the family live as normal people with no fortune or help from the others what so ever.

Surprisingly, though they don't do anything. It's like they accept that they were treated like that...as if they were thinking that they were destined to be like that. _'Now I know where Neji gets all that 'destiny' stuff.' _Naruto thought, not noticing that he was staring at Hinata. The blonde then noticed that Hinata had a blush so deep, Naruto would sure that she was going to pass out in a few seconds. _'Did I do something wrong?' _Naruto thought, oblivious to everything.

"Hinata. Are you okay?" Naruto asked, his eyes were showing concern for the purple-haired girl.

"I-I-I'm fine." Hinata stuttered as she did her best to smile at the blonde without wavering.

"B-But are you? I-I-I'm a-about y-y-your f-face." Hinata said with her eyes lowering towards the ground.

"Oh, the bruise? It's really nothing!" Naruto lied scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Hinata nodded, knowing that Naruto was lying. Though, she didn't want to press the issue and instead raised her head to see Naruto's painting.

"T-That's r-r-really good N-N-Naruto." Hinata stuttered her compliment as she continued to stare at the drawing.

The drawing was simple, but beautiful at the same time. At the left was a town that was in a fierce storm and the clouds were purplish grey. The rain completely drenched everything while the trees were being blown by the wind almost to the point where it looked like they were going to be ripped the ground. Then, it slowly fades into a beautiful scene. The right side showed the same town that was drawn on the left side, but instead of a fierce storm, sunlight was beaming down on it and shining on everything in its path.

The trees were shinning under the water and the water was dripping from the tips of the leaves. A fading rainbow was seen at the top of the picture in the clear blue skies. There were no children nor adults painted across the streets in the painting. Though, it looked like it was good that there weren't. Overall, the painting looked like it showed a symbol of his weekend. Starting from his awful days with beginning to live with Mishiba and Koyra again, to where he stayed comfortably with Kakashi inside his house. Naruto faced Hinata and grinned at her.

"Thanks!" Naruto said.

Hinata could only blush and aim her pale eyes towards the ground. Naruto set his paintbrush down and grabbed the white cloth to his right to wipe off some of the paint on his hands.

"A-Anou...N-N-Naruto." Hinata said as he looked at Naruto, her index fingers were pushed together again.

"Hm?" Naruto said, looking at Hinata with curious eyes.

"W-" Hinata began, but was cut off by the sound of the bell and the end of school.

"Alright, just leave your paintings on the stands." Asuma said as he frowned, he lost again.

The students rushed out of the class, chatting happily with their friends.

"Sorry! I got to go. Need to meet someone after school." Naruto said giving Hinata an apologetic look.

Hinata nodded as Naruto quickly left the room. The purple-haired girl frowned at herself because of her lack of courage and walked out of the room also. Meanwhile, Naruto went to his locker and slammed the bottom of his locker with his right leg. After hitting his locker for the second time, it opened and Naruto grabbed his backpack. Slamming his locker shut with his right hand, Naruto rushed outside the school.

He slowed down his pace into an easy walk as he saw the school's running track field. The school's running track field was...about the size of one and a half of a football fields since more people sign up for track than for football. As Naruto arrived in front of the track, as he grabbed the envelope from his back pocket and opened it again. He looked at the photograph again, thinking hard and trying to remember how he knew that place. He didn't know that quiet, almost silent, footsteps were approaching towards him until the person spoke.

"Uzumaki"

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**A/N: Suspense is always fun to write/type about XD Anyways, sorry about the hinting het pairing (please don't kill me . ), but I needed to give an entrance for Hinata -.-; Anyways, please Review!!!**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry it took soo long XD BUT at least this chapter is the longest chapter I have written...so far :D I'm soooo happy that it's Winter Break!! XD I could work more on this story now (without all the schoolwork...bleh :P). **

**Big thanks to my patient and very nice beta astarte lea!**

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Naruto jumped in surprise and quickly turned to see the person who had spoken his last name. The blonde's shoulders slumped in relief as he saw the person.

"Geez, Gaara! Don't scare me like that." Naruto said as he sighed in relief and then pouted towards the red-haired boy.

"..." Gaara continued to stare at Naruto with an invisible eyebrow raised.

Naruto stopped pouting and stared back at Gaara. The blonde clutched tighter on the small photo in his right hand. After a few seconds, Naruto lowered his stare towards the ground nervously.

"Sooo, what did you want to talk about?" Naruto said as he lifted his head and looked at Gaara with curiosity in his eyes.

"I mean, why did you give me this?" Naruto continued as he held out the small photo towards Gaara.

"Don't you remember anything?" Gaara questioned back, staring at the blonde with a blank gaze.

"Well...Not really." Naruto answered as he pulled his hand back and smiled sheepishly at Gaara.

Quickly, Gaara grabbed Naruto's hand and held it. The blonde's eyes widen in shock, but not because of Gaara's action, it was how he was feeling. _'If you think about it, Gaara didn't even touch me before and after we became friends.' _Naruto realized in his thoughts. _'Every time I reached out to him, he stepped back-' _As soon as Naruto finished that thought, a similar headache from a few minutes ago returned.

Naruto kneeled to the ground in pain as his other unoccupied hand was pressed to the side of his head. Gaara stood still as Naruto kneeled in pain, as if he was exepecting it to happen. Gaara's pale green eyes bored through Naruto's head, a small scowl was on his lips. _'You knew that this was going to happen.'_ The voice in Gaara's mind spoke again as if taunting him. Gaara ignored the voice and pulled his hand back, making Naruto release his grasp.

As soon as Naruto felt Gaara let go of his hand, the headache was gone in an instant. _'W-Wha?' _Naruto thought in slight half-daze. The blonde looked up at Gaara with confusion in his cerulean eyes. Naruto's thoughts suddenly went flashing before his eyes.

_Two children smiling and laughing as they played on the beach._

_The two same children standing quietly as a man yelled at them in anger._

_Finally, two same children reaching out to each other as they were separated by the bodyguards, one was being carried while the other was held back._

Naruto gasped for a breath that he didn't know he was holding. The blonde stood up as he tried to stop his shaking.

"W-what was that?" Naruto asked, more to himself than towards the red-haired boy.

"You are remembering events that were suppose to be erased from you brain." Gaara stated, his eyes continued to show no emotions.

"What do you mean they were 'suppose to'?" Naruto asked as he felt uneasy.

"I'll tell you...Follow me." Gaara said as he turned around and started walking.

Naruto had no choice but to follow. The blonde was a few steps behind Gaara in a steady pace as he stared at the red-haired boy in confusion and curiosity. _'What is going on?' _Naruto thought, in frustration. _'I had memories that were erased? Why?' _Naruto continued with his questions in his thoughts, as he felt angrier because of frustration.

"Grrr!" Naruto said in frustration, as he pulled his hair.

Gaara turned his head and raised an invisible eyebrow at the blonde.

"I'm so confused! I mean, what the hell do you mean that I had memories erased? How is that possible?" Naruto said as he frowned.

"...We're almost there. So, just be quiet until then." Gaara said as he turned his head back and walked.

Naruto's frown turned into a scowl as he followed Gaara, his hands were shoved into his pockets. A few minutes past and Naruto was getting impatient. Just as Naruto opened his mouth to ask if they were there yet, Gaara stopped.

"We're here."

Naruto stopped also and looked around. They were in the middle of a large park. Red leaves were falling on the narrow cemented floor and the small wind blew some of the leaves into the sky. Strangely, no one was in the park. Gaara walked towards a long brown bench at the side of cemented floor. Again, Naruto followed.

"Sit." Gaara said, ordered.

Naruto hesitantly sat on the bench on the right and looked at Gaara, who was standing beside him. _'It's finally the time...' _Gaara thought as he continued to stare at the park. Gaara opened his mouth and spoke.

"It began..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------**Flashback**-----------------------------------------------------

_"Father?" A young red-haired boy said as he looked at the man in front of him._

_"Yes, Gaara?" His father said as he continued to look at the paper in front of him._

_"Who were those people that just came here?" Gaara asked, his eyes were full of curiosity._

_"...Just someone I needed to talk to. Now, go. I have some work to do." His father commanded as he reached for his pen and wrote something on the paper, never taking his eyes off the paper._

_Gaara stood stiff and walked out of the large office. After closing the large, smooth wooden doors, the red-haired child continued to think about the adults that met his father a few minutes ago, but not just because they met his father (he is used to seeing many adults talking with his father), it's that there was a small boy who looked like the same age as him along with the people his father talked to. _

'A boy who has blonde hair and bandages on both of his cheeks.' _Gaara remembered as he only stole a glance at the boy for a second. He turned away from the double doors and walked down the long hallway, still continuing to have thoughts of the boy. _

_"Gaara?" _

_Gaara turned around and saw his older sister Temari walk towards him._

_"Hello Temari." Gaara said politely as he bowed, these were the traditions he was forced to be taught by in respect._

_Gaara stood straight in front of his sister and stared at her in curiosity. Temari stared back, a knowing look was in her eyes. Also, a smile touched her lips._

_"You want to know who that little boy that just passed by was, don't you?" Temari said with amusement in her green eyes._

_"...Yes." Gaara said softly as he lowered his gaze onto the carpet floor in embarrassment, a light blush was across his cheeks._

_"Well, I'm curious about him too. I guess we'll have to wait for Father to tell us, right?" Temari said as she kneeled slightly towards Gaara so that she was about the same height as him and smiled at her youngest brother's blush._

_"..." Gaara silently agreed with Temari, but he was too impatient to wait._

_Though, he _knew_ he had to be patient. It was not a choice, it was a must for their whole...family as Gaara would try to call it. Gaara's father, which people besides him and his siblings, was called "Kazekage." His father owned a multi-millionaire company controlling the employees with an iron fist. Though, the employees didn't mind much about it because of the amount they were getting and the luck they already got just by getting hired by a millionaire. _

_As for his brother and sister, Temari was the oldest of the three and was twelve years old. Kankuro was the middle child and was eleven years old. Finally, Gaara was the youngest of all three and was ten years old. When their mother gave birth to Gaara, she died hours later by childbirth fever. After that day, the Kazekage had locked himself inside his office literally. His angry yells were now more commom than rare and Gaara would hear many complaints and whispers about his father._

_"Poor guy...who wouldn't be depressed when their wife died..." One worker would say._

_"I know Kazekage's wife died, but he should not be getting his emotions in the business!" Another worker replied back._

_"He shouldn't take his depression and anger on us!" Another said._

'How would you feel if someone you love died?!' _Gaara would shout back in his mind, wishing he had the courage to say those words through his mouth. Instead, he would just walk away from them or past by them, knowing that they would pale as they realized that their boss' youngest son had heard them. Gaara's train of thought was broken when a female's hand was waving in front of his face. The young boy snapped his head up and looked at Temari, who was the one waving her hand._

_"Are you okay?" Temari asked with concern in her eyes._

_"I'm fine." Gaara said as a rare small smile appeared on his lips._

_Temari was suspicious, but she let the problem go. _'Gaara will tell me when the time comes.' _Temari thought with a reassuring smile. _'He always has.' _The two began to walk down the hallway, both not knowing what to say. _

_"Hey! Hey!" A male voice called out behind_

_Both of the siblings stopped as they heard the stomps of running feet and the voice. They turned and saw Kankuro running towards them and strangely, not wearing his usual heavy face paint that he loved to have on his face. As Kankuro managed to be a few feet away from his siblings, the young boy dropped his hands and leaned forward as he tried to catch his breath._

_"D...Dad..n...needs to see u...us." Kankuro panted as he looked up and stared at his siblings._

_"Why?" Temari asked as she looked at Kankuro. _

_"Don't know. I heard it from Dad's secretary who came to tell me and you guys." Kankuro explained, finally regaining his breath._

_Temari stood still, as if hesitant to go see their father. Gaara sighed soundlessly and walked past Kankuro. Temari looked at her youngest brother in confusion, but it was never seen by Gaara since his back was towards her. Temari and Kankuro looked at each other and nodded, where ever their little brother goes, they go with him. Call it being "protective siblings". Temari and Kankuro began to walk beside Gaara. _

_Of course, the Kazkage's office wasn't very far since they had just walked past it a few minutes ago. Gaara knocked at the right side of the double doors lightly and waited._

_"Come in." Was their father's muffled answer through the door. _

_Gaara slowly opened the door and saw his father in the same place as he was: sitting behind his desk with stacks of papers on each side of the large desk. All three of the Sabaku siblings walked inside of the office, Kankuro, being the last person to come in, closed the double doors. _

_"Father." The siblings said in unison as they bowed in respect of their father._

_"Children, we have a visitor with us. You may have seen him a few minutes ago when I was talking to him." The Kazekage said, his eyes finally tearing away from his paperwork. _

_All three children nodded. _

_"Good. He will stay here for a few days until someone adopts him. I want you all to be on your best behavior, is that clear?" Their father said, knowing that his children would agree no matter what._

_"Yes." They said together again._

_"Good, you will meet him in the lobby in a few minutes, take him to our house, and show him his room. His room will be the unoccupied room right next to Gaara's." The Kazekage instructed._

_The siblings could only nod. Seeing that they knew their instructions, their father waved his left hand for them to go, and his other hand lifted a large piece of paper. The Kazekage took his eyes back onto the paper he was holding and didn't bother to watch his children walk out of his office. Temari closed the doors after she and her younger brothers were out of the office. Temari turned away from the doors and smiled at her youngest brother. Gaara glared back at his sister, knowing exactly what she was thinking. Kankuro blinked in confusion at Temari and Gaara, wondering what was going on._

_"Well, let's go see the boy!" Temari stated as she was the first to walk down the right side of the hallway._

_Gaara and Kankuro followed their sister. _'I wonder what the boy is like.' _Gaara thought, his curiosity about the boy was growing. _'He must be important for Father to take him into our home...' _Gaara continued his train of thoughts as he and his siblings entered the elevator. Why was Gaara curious about the boy? Simple: He had no friends besides his siblings. He was always praised and cooed by his father's friends, but had been shunned by the children at his age. He had always been quiet and rarely talked to anyone, even to his teachers. _

_His teachers always voiced their concerns to his siblings (their father never had the time nor care to go to any of their parent/teacher conferences) about his social life and how that would affect him. Of course, he wouldn't pay attention to them and just continue his ways without any friends, even though he wished for one._

_"Gaara?" A soft voice broke the young child's train of thoughts._

_Gaara turned his head towards the voice and saw it was Temari who spoke to him. His sister looked at him with worry in her eyes and it was the same for Kankuro, but he did his best not to show it. Gaara shook his head, signaling that he was fine. Accepting the gesture, Temari turned her head back towards the front, looking at the opening elevator doors._

_"Come on. Let's go see the boy." Temari said as they continued to stare at the lobby from the elevator, waiting for Gaara._

_Gaara only nodded and stepped out of the elevator. Kankuro and Temari followed from a few steps behind him. Gaara searched for the boy without moving his head to pretend that he was just walking. The red-haired boy saw adults in the lobby suddenly began talking in whispers, like they were going to talk about rumors and gossip. _'No doubt they will.' _Gaara thought as he passed by them. _

_Ignoring the people, Gaara continued to search for the blonde boy. Gaara stopped as he saw the boy...sitting in front of him. Technically, he was sitting in one of the lobby's black leather love seats with his legs dangling from the height of the seat. Though, he was looking nervously from his left and right, like a wounded animal that was waiting for its predator to capture him. _'Why is he like that?' _Gaara thought as he continued to look at the blonde. The blonde noticed Gaara's gaze and stopped turning his head from side to side._

_Both of them stayed silent as they stared at each other. One gaze was filled with confusion while the other was filled with fear. Though, there was no mistake that both of them had a hint of curiosity in their eyes. _'Why is the boy so scared?' _Gaara asked in his thoughts, wishing he could get the answer without actually asking the boy. The stare was broken when Temari stepped next to Gaara._

_"Hello, we are the Kazekage's children." Temari said._

_"My name is Temari." Temari said before she raised her right hand and moved it towards Kankuro._

_"That is Kankuro." Kankuro waved at the boy for only a second before he looked around the lobby as if there was nothing else to do._

_"And this is Gaara." Temari said as she ignored Kankuro and used her right hand and moved towards Gaara._

_"Nice to meet you." Gaara said politely as he bowed._

_"...Hello..." The blonde boy said quietly as he continued to stare at Gaara._

_The blonde boy bit his lips nervously, as if he was going to continue. The Sabaku children waited._

_"...My name is...Naruto." The boy said quietly as he lowered his gaze from Gaara's._

_"Well, nice to meet you Naruto-kun." Temari said with a smile and began to look around._

_"Did you bring any stuff?" Temari asked when she didn't notice any luggage next to Naruto._

_Naruto shook his head. _'Wait...why doesn't he have any bags? Shouldn't he bring items from his home?' _Gaara questioned in his thoughts, his curiosity about Naruto grew._

_"Then just follow us. We'll take you to the limo." Temari said with a reassuring smile at Naruto._

_The blonde child nodded and slid off the leather love seat. Temari and Kankuro turned around and began walking towards the exit. Gaara waited until Naruto was side by side with him and then began walking. In front of them, the two oldest Sabaku siblings were discussing something quietly. Gaara turned his head slightly towards Naruto, looking at the blonde's bandaged cheeks._

_"Your cheeks..." Gaara softly said as he continued to stare._

_"Huh? O-oh...it's n-nothing..." Naruto replied as he looked at Gaara, his eyes widened in surprised that the red-haired boy had talked to him._

_Both of the boys didn't say anything else after that. Once they arrived outside, a black sleek limo was waiting for them. The driver came out wearing black and gold and quickly walked towards the passenger's door. He opened the door and Temari went into the limo followed by Kankuro, then Naruto, and finally Gaara. The door was shut and the driver quickly got into the driver's seat._

_"The mansion please." Temari said to the driver as she leaned towards the front so that he could hear her._

_"Yes ma'am." The driver replied before turning the engine on. _

_They stayed silent for a few minutes, before Temari spoke._

_"So Naruto, how old are you?" Temari spoke, hoping to start a conversation._

_"Ummm, I'm ten years old." Naruto said quietly, his eyes were on the floor as his hands were fiddled nervously._

_"Oh! Gaara is the same age as you!" Temari said with a smile on her face._

_"..." Gaara didn't respond at the information and just stared at the blonde._

_Temari sighed at the lack of talking in the ride and decided to be quiet. _

_And so, everyone was silent throughout the ride..._

_Minutes later, the driver slowly brought the limo to a stop. The driver got out of the limo and opened the door for the four._

_"We have arrived." The driver stated as he bowed._

_Gaara was the first to get out, then Naruto, then Kankuro, and finally Temari who gave her thanks to the driver. The driver just bowed again in response. The mansion was a pure white color with many large windows glinting from the sun. Two collumns were in front of the entrance double doors with one on each side, creating a small roof that was good for winter or if it was raining. Temari walked quickly towards the entrance since she was the only one who had the keys. She quickly grabbed her ring of keys from the light green purse she was holding and opened the double doors._

_"Welcome back!" As the maids that happen to pass by the house said with adding a bow towards their greeting._

_Temari and Kankuro nodded back in greeting, except Temari had a smile on her face. Like Kankuro, Gaara nodded back, his face was blank. While Naruto looked uncomfortable from all the greetings and people so that he stayed closer to Gaara. Gaara turned his head towards Naruto and raised his eyebrow, another question was forming in his young mind. Though, he quickly ignored it and motioned for Naruto to follow him, who (of course) obeyed. _

_They both walked towards the large stairs that was in the center of the entrance and turned to the left. Gaara noticed that Naruto cocked his head towards the side, as if he was confused, yet curious to where they were going. In a few seconds later, both Gaara and Naruto stopped in front of a blue colored door. _

_"This will be your room during your stay. If you need any help, my room is next door to the left." Gaara spoke softly. _

_Naruto nodded. _

_"Though, since you didn't bring any clothes...or items, you'll have to borrow mine." Gaara said before gesturing towards Naruto and going into his room._

_Gaara opened the green colored door and stepped into his room. As the color of the door follows, the room was also shades of green. A large closet was at their right along with the bathroom door next to it. A large king size bed was at the right wall, a small panda stuffed animal was sitting on top of the right pillow. Gaara walked towards his large closet and quickly searched for clothes. Finding a pair of pajamas, Gaara began to turn around._

_"My clothes might be a bit small for you..." Gaara said, before his eyes widened in shock._

_Naruto wasn't at his spot, actually he was near Gaara's bed, holding the small panda in his hands._

_"No! Don't touch that!" Gaara said loudly as he rushed towards Naruto._

_With a cry, Naruto immediately dropped the stuffed animal and whimpered._

_"I'm sorry..." Naruto said quietly over and over again as he curled onto the floor in a fetal position. _

_Gaara grabbed his panda and placed it back on the pillow. The panda was Gaara's most treasured item, his mother gave it to him before dieing... Snapping out of his thoughts, Gaara turned his head towards the frightened blonde and knelt in front of him._

_"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Gaara said, but it was overpowered by the frightened apologies from Naruto._

_"Are you alright?" Gaara said as he touched lightly on Naruto's right shoulder._

_Naruto flinched and quickly moved away from Gaara, his eyes were filled with fear. _'Why?' _Gaara thought, as he moved towards Naruto in determination and frustration over the never ending questions in his mind. Naruto only scooted farther from Gaara as he approached the older boy._

_"Don't worry, I won't hurt you..." Gaara said, trying his best to sooth Naruto (which he had never done before)._

_Naruto bit his lips and looked like he was trying his best to stop moving in reaction. It worked and Gaara was in front of Naruto, once again, kneeling. _

_"Are you alright?" Gaara said, not bothering to touch him since he feared for the same reaction as a few moments ago._

_"...Yes." Naruto whispered, his head was resting on his crossed arms._

_Gaara quickly decided something, and he bit his lips for that decision. Though, he had to do it, he wanted to know about this boy. So, Gaara stood up and walked towards his bed. He ignored Naruto's curious eyes following him and grabbed his stuffed panda. He walked towards Naruto and knelt so that they were the same height._

_"Here." Gaara said as he held out his panda to Naruto._

_"H-Huh?" Naruto said, his eyes were filled with confusion and his head was cocked to the side._

_"...You can have it." Gaara said a bit hesitantly._

_"No! No thank you...I just wanted to see it." Naruto said as his eyes widened in surprise._

_"Are you saying no to your host's gift?" Gaara said with his pale green eyes narrowing._

_"Eh...ummm, thank you." Naruto said as he gently grabbed the panda and let out a small smile._

_Gaara couldn't help but smile back. It was the first time Gaara had seen Naruto smile and vice versa. _'Weird start, but I think like Naruto smiling like that more.' _Gaara thought in his mind as Naruto took the panda in his arms and stood up, his smile now forming into a happy grin. Gaara kept his smile as they both walked out of Gaara's room. As soon as they got out, Gaara remembered the clothes (which were still in his hands)._

_"Here." Gaara said as he held out the clothes towards Naruto._

_"They might be small for you, but they should fit fine." Gaara continued as Naruto reached out one arm for the clothes while the other was still holding the panda._

_"Thanks..." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly._

_Gaara raised his eyebrow at the gesture, but ignored it. He saw Naruto looking at the black hanging clock in front of them and noticed it was already 5:00 P.M. The younger boy remembered something again and turned towards Naruto._

_"Meet us at the dining room at 5:30 for dinner. The dining room is the room to the right when you are at the front entrance." Gaara instructed._

_Naruto stayed silent for a few seconds before understanding and nodded. _

_"Before, that time, you can go look around the mansion if you want or go to your room." Gaara said as he walked down the stairs._

_"Ummm, Gaara?" Naruto said quietly, shifting his feet side to side._

_Gaara stopped at the second step and turned around, blinking in curiosity._

_"Eh...Thank you. You know...for telling me that and showing me your place..." Naruto said uncomfortably as he instinctively scratched the bandage on his right cheek._

_Gaara's eyes widened in surprise, but felt happy over the blonde's thanks. The younger boy nodded at the thanks and continued walking down the stairs, leaving Naruto to go back into his room. After standing in the middle of the ground level floor, Gaara turned to his right and towards the living room. The living room had no television since usually guests came there only to speak to the Kazekage and go on their way. The room had a very large sofa that was placed in a circle in the center of the room (of course, there was a small space for people to sit down without stepping on the circular sofa). The sofa was blue and made out of velvet while the carpet floor was a nice shade of yogurt white. _

_Gaara sat down gently on one of the sofa seats and thought about what had happened. _'The boy...I just met him and yet, I have given him one of my most treasured items...' _Gaara thought his head was swimming in confusion as he stared at the ground in thought again. _

_"Oi!"_

_Gaara snapped his head back up and looked at the person who spoke. Kankuro stood next to him, a smirk was planted on his face as if he thought Gaara thinking was amusing (though it is hard to find Gaara thinking hard unless something unexpected happened)._

_"So, what's gotten you to think so hard brother?" Kankuro teased as he sat next to Gaara._

_"...Nothing." Gaara lied as he turned his face away from his big brother._

_"Oh really? Hmm, let me guess, it has something to do with our young guest right?" Kankuro 'supposedly' guess and his smirk got wider as Gaara tensed._

_"I knew it. Looks like you have a little interest in him eh?" Kankuro teased._

_"I do not." Gaara denied, turning his head towards his older brother and scowled at him._

_Kankuro chuckled, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that he would get to tease his younger brother. Plus, it made him feel like he had a younger brother, not a relative who he had to be all formal with. _

_"Anyways, Let's go to the dining room and see if we can help set up." Kankuro said, boredom was already in his thoughts as he stood up._

_Gaara nodded and the brothers walked out of the living room and towards the dining room. They both knew that they were going to be denied for their help from the maids because it would be odd to see their masters helping them. None the less, they would still ask even they knew what would happen because they were bored. Their dining room was (of course) large with a white carpet floor and a designed rug that was placed under the large dining table in the center. The table was also designed with flowers in their corners and was always clean even after guests and the family had eaten there. The chairs were made to look elegant and yet, comfortable for people. _

_Walking past the living room, they walked into the kitchen, where the maids and chef were at. As they guessed, the maids stuttered in rejection from their help and said that they were fine, and could do these jobs themselves. Kankuro sighed in boredom as he knew there was nothing to do in the next 15 mintues, but just wait. Gaara said nothing and decided to wait as well._

_So they waited for 15 minutes. _

_Then Temari came into the dining room and said hello to his younger brothers while sitting down. Now they had to wait for Naruto, who was already 3 minutes late. Ten minutes later, there was no sign of Naruto and the Sabaku guessed that he had decided to explore the mansion and got lost. _

_"Gaara, could you go get Naruto?" Temari asked as the maids began coming out of the kitchen with food that looked to be enough for four children._

_"We'll wait for you." Temari continued, noticing Kankuro staring hungrily at the prime rib served in front of him._

_Gaara nodded and stood up. He got out of the dining room and went upstairs. _'I should check his room first then go to the east wall to see if he's there.' _Gaara planned in his mind as he turned to the west side of the mansion. After halfway through the hallway, he heard soft music coming from either his or Naruto's room. He walked a bit faster, hoping not to hold up the dinner. The red-haired boy noticed that the music was coming from Naruto's room and that the music was from a cello. Gaara grasped the door handle of the blonde's bedroom and opened the door._

_Gaara heard a gasp and saw that it was from Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as if he was caught stealing something, but that wasn't the case. Instead, Naruto was sitting on his bed listening to an orchestra music CD from a music stereo and he was in the middle of listening to a cello solo. _

_"Oh, sorry! I didn't know if I could..." Naruto trailed off his sentence, his eyes lowered in shame._

_"No, it's not a problem. We were wondering why you weren't you at the dining room." Gaara said._

_"Eh? It's already 5:30?" Naruto said as he looked at the small clock standing on a desk next to his bed._

_"Ummm...sorry." Naruto said as he chuckled nervously._

_Gaara nodded as Naruto stood up and smoothed his clothes. Gaara's eyes followed Naruto as he walked over to the music stereo and shut it off. After doing that, Naruto stood up and grinned happily at Gaara._

_"Let's go!" Naruto said as he walked past Gaara and into the hallway. _

_Gaara's eyes widened slightly in shock over the quick change in Naruto's personality from a quiet person to an energetic person. '_The music?' _Gaara thought as he stared at the music stereo. _'Maybe that reminded him of something good.' _Gaara guessed as he walked out of the room and the closed the door. They both walked in silence, but Naruto had a smile on his face and Gaara couldn't help but have a small smile too. _'I'm beginning to smile too much.' _Gaara thought as they walked down the stairs, but he still had the same smile even after that thought. They walked into the dining room where they saw Temari smiling at them in greeting and Kankuro with a small frown on his face at how long they took to get here._

_"Sorry." Naruto said as he scratched the back his head sheepishly, his smile turned smaller._

_"It's alright. We don't mind waiting." Temari replied. _

_Naruto's smile turned back into its original size as they sat at the dining table. Since the food was already served in front of them they began to eat._

_"Let's eat!" Naruto said as he took a bite of his food._

_The siblings blinked in surprise, mostly because they never had a guest say "Let's eat" or any of that sort when they began to eat. Though, it was refreshing to hear that instead of silence when they ate. Naruto blinked when he saw that none of the siblings said the same thing as him (he thought that people said "Let's eat" or some thing else every time they began to eat), but shrugged it off and continued to eat._

_And so, that was how the Sabaku siblings and Naruto met and went through the first day. _

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**A Week Later**----------------------------------------------------_

_"Gaara!" Naruto shouted as he pounced on the red-haired boy, hugging the poor boy tightly._

_"Uh...Get off Naruto." Gaara said as he tried to get the older boy off._

_"Awww!" Naruto said as he got off of Gaara and pouted._

_"Meanie." Naruto said as he pouted at Gaara._

_"Sorry, I don't want to get squished." Gaara replied, a small smile was at the corner of his lips._

_"Hey! I'm not that fat!" Naruto protested, his tongue stuck out towards Gaara._

_"You-" Gaara said as he grabbed Naruto and began to wrestle with him._

_No one had stuck his tongue out at Gaara...until two days ago from the same person. After minutes of wrestling, Temari found them in Gaara's room and on the floor, panting in exhaustion from the wrestling._

_"Again? You guys never get tired huh?" Temari said as she placed her hands on her hips, but a smile was on her face as she looked at the two._

_"Nope!" Naruto replied with a tired, but happy grin on his face. _

_Gaara said nothing, but silently agreed. It was surprising that a few days ago, Naruto was silent, but now, he was the most energetic person he had ever met. Gaara began seeing Naruto's real side was when he asked Naruto about the orchestra music he was listening to._

_"It sounded...really nice." Naruto replied with a smile on his face._

_"I want to learn how to play the cello and be as good as that cellist that played the solos on the CD!" Naruto declared, his smile turning into a grin._

_Gaara doubted that would happen since the cellist that played the solo was the best of all cellists: Kazama Arashi. Though, Gaara didn't say anything and just stayed silent. Suddenly, Naruto changed from silent to bouncy and happy. _'It was a good change.' _Gaara recognized. _'Naruto looks so much better being happy, it's almost as if he was meant to be like that. Him being too silent was unnatural, even people who don't know him would realize that.' _Gaara thought. His thoughts were interrupted by a poke at his side._

_"Hey! Did you listen to me?" Naruto said, puffing his cheeks out._

_"No...sorry about that." Gaara said as he squirmed from the poke._

_"Listen to Naruto more Gaara." Temari teased, earning a small glare from her youngest brother._

_"Anyways, Kankuro and I are going to the mall. So we won't be back until late afternoon." Temari said._

_Gaara nodded, knowing that the two of them shopping meant only Temari shopping and Kankuro carrying the bags. Gaara felt pity for his older brother since he was going to carry practically the weight of a desk after Temari was done shopping._

_"Okay! See you later Temari!" Naruto said with a grin._

_Temari grinned back and waved as she walked out of the room (while closing the door) as she began to look for Kankuro. A thought passed Gaara's mind. _'Why is Naruto here? Shouldn't he be at his home?' _Gaara thought. _'Why did father suddenly say that Naruto was going to live with us?'

_"Oi!" Naruto said as he waved his hand in front of Gaara's face._

_"What is it?" Gaara said, pretending that he was paying attention and was now annoyed._

_"You're spacing out a lot. Is something wrong?" Naruto asked, concern and worry were in his eyes._

_"...I just have a couple of questions in my mind." Gaara said plainly._

_"...It's about why I'm here isn't it?" Naruto said quietly, his eyes lowering towards the ground._

_"Well...yes." Gaara started loud and went soft at the end._

_"Then...I'll tell you." Naruto said hesitantly._

_"You don't have to." Gaara protested._

_"But I know you want to know. Gaara once you have a curious thought on your mind, you won't forget it." Naruto said as he pouted at the red-haired boy._

_Gaara stayed silent as he knew that the blonde was right. _

_"The reason why I'm here is because..." Naruto took a deep breath and told Gaara about the massacre a few months ago._

_...And he was a part of it. Needless to say, Gaara was shocked when he remembered the even and how some of his relatives were murdered there. _'A business meeting with Kyuubi-sama.' _Gaara remembered as he overheard his father saying. _'Father couldn't go because he had caught with a very bad flu and had to stay in his bed for at least a week.' _Getting away from his thoughts, Gaara stared in shock at Naruto once he was finished with his story._

_"Go ahead...you can hit me if you want..." Naruto said as he lowered his head._

_"W-What?" Gaara stuttered, his eyes widening._

_"I don't mind if you hit me in anger or something." Naruto said, his head was still lowered towards the ground._

_This shook Gaara as he continued to stare at the blonde locks of his best friend. _'Wait...he has been beaten before?' _Gaara thought, anger was now in his veins and not because of Naruto. Gaara grabbed Naruto's shoulder and shook him slightly so that he could see the blonde's face. Naruto's eyes were tightly shut as if bracing for pain._

_"Naruto...have you been abused?!" Gaara demanded._

_"Uh...Yes." Naruto said after opening his eyes in shock of not feeling pain yet._

_"Did you fight back?" Gaara said his eyes glaring at Naruto._

_"Y-Yes...but after a while...I kinda got used to it." Naruto said scratching the back of his head nervously._

_"But look, if you want to hit me now, can you do it now and get over with it?" Naruto said quietly his head back towards the ground again._

_"I'm not going to hurt you." Gaara said tightly his eyes boring into Naruto's head._

_Naruto snapped his head back up, his eyes widening in surprise._

_"W-What?"_

_"You heard me. I. Am. Not. Hurting. You." Gaara said._

_"B-But-" Naruto started, but was cut off._

_"Did you actually think I was going to hurt you? How can you think that?" Gaara said, his eyes glaring at Naruto._

_"Plus, just because people hate you for that stupid reason doesn't change anything." Gaara said as he narrowed his eyes._

_Naruto said nothing, his mouth was slightly open in surprise, but his eyes showed relief and happiness. Before Gaara knew what happened, Naruto pounced on him again and hugged him tightly with his arms around his neck._

_"Thank you." Naruto whispered in his right ear._

_Gaara smiled softly and wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist and hugged back. A knock was heard from outside._

_"Sir? The Kazekage would like you to meet him in his office." A woman said, probably a maid._

_"I will be there in a few seconds." Gaara said and began to hear the maid's retreating steps._

_"Looks like I'll have to meet with my father." Gaara said as he pulled back from the hug._

_Naruto nodded as his fingers fiddled nervously, but a smile was on his face._

_"I'll be right back." Gaara said as he opened the door and walked out of the room._

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**A/N: Guess what? There's still more about Gaara's past (though, you guys would've known by the ending XD)! So yeah, Gaara's past is going to be pretty big : D At least that's one question solved (why were the people there) XD Hope you liked it and R&R please!! XD**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: -kick writer's block in the ass- It's good to be back! XD Again, thanks for waiting for a loooong time (and for understanding)!! So, this is the chapter that ends Gaara's talk of his past. This chapter is (as you see) very long (it's around 6,800 words). I hope you guys like it XD**

**Astarte lea :3 Wonderful beta! XD**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_Gaara walked down the hallway, questions were plaquing in his mind. _'Why does Father want to see me?' _Gaara thought, his eyes staring at the other side of the hallway, but he wasn't paying attention. _'Naruto...' _The small voice in his mind said...maybe hinted? Gaara shook his head. _'Maybe, but I still need to meet Father at his office.'

_Gaara stopped in front of his father's office. Actually, it was his father's bedroom, but it turned into one of his offices after his mother's death and when he turned obsessive over his business. He noticed that the double doors were slightly opened, which was strange since the Kazekage always remembered to close the double doors for his privacy. None the less, Gaara reached with his right hand and placed it on the right side of the door. The red-haired boy began to push lightly, but stopped when he heard voices. _

_"So, did you take the boy into your custody?" A deep and static-y voice said._

_"Yes, but I have yet to adopt him." The Kazekage said._

_Gaara's eyes reflected confusion. _'Who is Father going to adopt?' _Gaara thought as he leaned closer towards the door and peered through it._

_"It's not a wise decision, Kazekage." The male voice said again with caution in his voice._

_"How is it not a wise decision? Once I have adopted Uzumaki, I will be able to control Kyuubi's company." The Kazekage said almost gleefully._

'Uzumaki? Naruto?' _Gaara thought, quickly remembering of the story Naruto told him a few minutes ago. _'So that's why Naruto is staying with us...so Father could adopt him and control Kyuubi's company since Naruto is the heir.' _Gaara thought. Gaara waited for a sprout of happiness inside him since his father was going to adopt Naruto, his best friend, but felt nothing. It was great and all about adopting Naruto, but why did Gaara feel so uneasy from his Father's tone about controlling Kyuubi's company? Another patch of the conversation cut off Gaara's thoughts._

_"Though, how do you actually know if Naruto is truly the heir? What if Kyuubi-sama did not chose an heir?" The voice through the speaker questioned._

_"It's impossible that Kyuubi did not choose an heir. If that happens, what will happen to his precious nephew? He surely must have thought of that, and so that leaves only one choice and that is to make Naruto his heir." The Kazekage said triumphantly._

_"...That may be true, but what will your children and workers feel? Do they not know about this?" The man questioned again._

_"Ah, but my children do know about Naruto and they accept him. As for my employees, they are used to him being around. Now I have had enough of these questions. I just wanted to propose that your company and mine have an alliance. Before I own the Kyuubi company." The Kazekage said, a sly grin was across his face._

_A sigh was heard from the voice._

_"You do realize that once the child is a certain age, he will take over his uncle's company **if** he's the heir." The man explained._

_"Do not worry, I have that covered. All you need to think about is the offer I am giving." The Kazekage said as he chuckled._

_"...I will think about it." The man said hesitantly._

_"Alright, I will give you three days and only three days." The Kazekage said._

_"...Alright. Good afternoon Kazekage." The man said._

_"Have a good afternoon, Mizukage." _

_A satisfied smile was on the Kazekage's face. _'The Mizukage?' _Gaara thought, his pale green eyes widen slightly in shock. The Mizukage was also an owner of a large company and as far as Gaara has heard, they were a much higher (and profitable) company than theirs. _'But...why would Father offer him to join him? Father would definitely know that Mizukage-sama would reject that...offer, thinking that it was a bluff.'

_Though...is it true? Is the Kazekage actually going to adopt Naruto? Finally annoyed by the questions he was forming in his mind, Gaara took a step back and knocked on one of the doubled doors lightly with his small knuckles._

_"Who is it?" The Kazekage said in a surprised voice, as if he wasn't expecting someone to arrive._

_"Father, you wanted to see me?" Gaara asked, using the monotone voice he always used when he talked to his father._

_"Ah yes, come in Gaara." _

_The boy heard the small squeaking sound of his father sitting in his leather seat. Doing as he was told, Gaara slowly opened the doors and closed them as he entered the Kazekage's office. Gaara walked towards his father until he was a few feet away from the Kazekage's desk. To the boy's surprise, there were no papers at the sides of his father's desk (an extremely rare thing). Both stayed silent as if waiting for the other to speak first. Due to the shortness of his patience, the Kazekage spoke first._

_"What do you think of Naruto?" The Kazekage asked, staring at his youngest child._

_"He is...lively." Gaara hesitantly said, finding the word to describe Naruto._

_"So he is." The Kazekage replied with an amusing chuckle._

_"Tell me, would you like to have Naruto as your brother?" The Kazekage asked, his eyes continuing the show amusement._

_Gaara's eyes widened in shock, he didn't realize that his father would talk about this so soon. Now, Gaara was torn at the question. _'If I agree, something bad will happen...' _Gaara thought, remembering the strange grin across his father's face. _'Though, if I disagree, Father might guess that I overheard his conversation...'

_"Gaara." The Kazekage's voice broke through Gaara's thoughts._

_"If you agree now, Naruto would be part of this family in a few seconds. I have the adoption forms right here." The Kazekage explained while getting a fairly thick stacks of paper from his desk._

_"...What would happen if I refused?" Gaara hesitantly, his eyes lowered towards the red carpet floor._

_"Then, Naruto would not be able to live here and go to an orphanage." The Kazekage replied, surprised at the question from his son._

'Naruto...' _Without thinking, Gaara lifted his head and stared at the Kazekage. _

_"Yes." Gaara quietly said as he now thought of what was going to happen._

_"Good!" The Kazekage said, his face was beaming slightly in happiness._

_Gaara suppressed the urge to shiver and began to think. _'Did I make a good choice? I mean Naruto is my brother now...' _Gaara thought as his father took a pen out and signed the adoption forum. A question struck Gaara._

_"Father."_

_The Kazekage lifted his head from the paper and raised his eyebrow in question._

_"Why did you ask me about having Naruto as my brother? Shouldn't you think about this by yourself?" Gaara cautiously said._

_"I decided that I wanted an opinion." Gaara's father replied as he went back to the adoption papers._

_"Now I once I give this to the adoption agency, Naruto will be part of this family." The Kazekage said a small grin on his face._

_Gaara only nodded as he tried to suppress another invisible shiver down his back. A second later, the Kazekage dropped his head back towards the paper again and waved at Gaara with the permission to leave. Gaara bowed in respect and left the room. A pang of regret was immediately set in his heart. After closing the door, Gaara waited. Before he even questioned himself why he was waiting, a chuckle erupted from the office. Hearing the chuckle in surprise, Gaara pressed his ear on the double doors and waited._

_"Did you hear him?" The Kazekage said inside the room._

_"...Yes." It was the Mizukage again._

'What?' _Gaara thought. _'Didn't the Mizukage get off the phone?' _Gaara briefly searched in his mind to record if that ever happened. _'...How could I have been so dense?' _Gaara cursed himself as he realized that his father didn't even close the off button on the speaker, showing that the Mizukage was still on and heard everything._

_"Do you still believe that I won't take action to my plan?' The Kazekage taunted, Gaara could imagine a triumphant smile across his face._

_"..." The Mizukage stayed silent over the speaker._

_"So, have you made your decision?" _

_"What? I thought that I had three days for my decision." The Mizukage said in a comeback._

_Gaara could hear a disappointed sigh from his father._

_"Then you shall have three days to think about it. Seems that I have forgotten about that." The Kazekage said._

_"Alright. Then I will have your answer in three days. Goodbye, Kazekage." The Mizukage said before disconnecting the call, not even waited for the Kazekage's goodbyes as well._

_A second of hearing the dead dial tone, the Kazekage pressed the speaker off. Gaara heard him sit on his leather chair again and decided to run away while his father didn't know about his eavesdropping. So Gaara took a few steps back and quickly walked towards his room. Again, questions were crossing into his mind and his irritation towards those questions grew._

_"Gaara!" _

_Gaara took a step back from the unexpected impact on his body. He face covered the surprise on his face to find that he was already at his room. He turned to his right side and realized that Naruto, again, pounced on him once he took a step into the room. Before Gaara could say anything, Naruto unwrapped his arms around his shoulders and looked straight at him._

_"So, what did Kazekage want?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly towards the side in curiosity._

_"..." _

_"Gaara?" Naruto said with his eyes shinning in concern._

_"..I..." Gaara began, but stopped to clear his throat._

_Now Naruto was getting really worried since he knew that when Gaara clears his throat, it shows that he's really nervous. Though, Naruto didn't say anything and waited for Gaara to speak._

_"My father...asked me about adopting you as my brother." _

_Naruto just stared, but his eyes widened at the size of dinner plates after Gaara finished his sentence. A few seconds later, his eyes reflected something...sadness. _'Does he still think that I hate him?' _Gaara though furiously. _

_"So...what did you say?" Naruto said quietly, his face aiming towards the ground in front of him._

_"I agreed." Gaara said as he stared at Naruto._

_"HUH?!" Naruto yelled, snapping his head back up so fast that Gaara knew that his neck was going to hurt._

_"I agreed." Gaara simply repeated._

_Naruto's eyes widen again before lowering his eyes on the floor. His blonde bangs covered his face and expression. Now, Gaara started to feel doubt from his decision. _'Did I choose right? I didn't even ask Naruto if he wanted to be adopted in this family...' _Gaara thought as regret slowly seeped in. _'Is he...angry?' _There was one thing Gaara could not stand and that was seeing or feeling his only friend angry at him. Gaara opened his mouth and started to speak._

_He was cut off when he saw and felt Naruto wrap his arms around his shoulders. Gaara's eyes widen in shock as hesitantly wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist in response of the hug. Gaara felt Naruto pressed his face onto his right shoulder and was surprised to feel something wet as well. _'Tears?' _Gaara thought. _

_"Naruto?" Gaara called out softly._

_His response was Naruto burying his face deeper into his shoulder. Gaara gently pulled away from the blonde and looked at him. Small tears were trailing down the older boy's tanned face. Naruto lifted his right arm and rubbed away the tears. Gaara laid a hand on his shoulder, his sign of asking if he's okay. Naruto nodded, a huge grin appeared on his face._

_"Sorry about that." Naruto said as he began to scratch the back of his head sheepishly._

_"But, I'm just...really happy!" Tears began to form around Naruto's eyes again, and the blonde began to rub them away._

_Gaara slowly felt relief and happiness. _'So he's happy that he's now part of the family.' _Gaara thought, a small smile began forming across his lips. _'I have a older brother now...'

_"Well...Looks like we have to wait for Temari and Kankuro to tell them the news. Right...brother?" Naruto said as he tried out the word "Brother"._

_Gaara's eyes widen only a few centimeters before going back to its original size and his small smile became larger. _

_"Right...brother."_

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------Two days later------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_After Temari and Kankuro came back from shopping, both Naruto and Gaara told them about the adoption. Needless to say, Temari was overjoyed and Kankuro (though he didn't show it) was also happy. Temari took them both out shopping for Naruto's clothes. After an hour of shopping, they had enough clothes to fill up Naruto's double closet. _

'It was already hard enough to carry the bags, but trying to get them into the limo was hard also.' _Gaara thought as he shook his head from the memory. During today, he and Naruto were chatting and playing around when they decided to get some snacks. Gaara went to get them from the kitchen and was going to go into Naruto's room._

_Until he heard some shouts in his father's office. Out of curiosity, Gaara walked towards the double doors and place his right ear gently on the sleek wood. _

_"Where is the money Naruto would have?!" The Kazekage seethed furiously._

_Gaara heard some books being thrown across the room and shivered with fear. Another male voice was in the room as well, trying to calm the Kazekage._

_"I'm sure that the will and money will be sent here." The voice said._

_Gaara recognized the voice, it was his father's council. Though, his thoughts were back towards what his father said...The Kyuubi's money and will. _'Why is Father so interested and obsessed with it? I mean, he has enough money already.' _His thoughts were broken when the Kazekage spoke again._

_"The will should have been here right now!" The Kazekage seethed back._

_"Well, maybe they are a bit late. You realize that the adoption agency is very busy." The council said._

_"Yes, I know that." The Kazekage snapped back._

_"Though, they should know who I am and sent me the will immediately." _

_Gaara heard the council take a breath and was about the reply back, but he was interrupted._

_"Now, I had enough of this talk. Inform the adoption agency that if I do not get the will, I will take the matters into my own hands." The Kazekage said. _

_"Yes sir."_

_Gaara heard the council beginning to walk and quickly ran down the hall, hoping that no one saw him. He grabbed the snacks tightly in his hands, curiosity was swimming in his mind again. As he slowed down, he lowered his head towards the ground and began to think._

_"Gaara!"_

_Gaara snapped his back up and saw Naruto waving at him. Naruto walked quickly towards him and helped him carry the snacks._

_"What took you so long?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head towards his brother._

_"I couldn't pick which snacks to bring." Gaara lied._

_"You know I wouldn't mind what snacks you brought." Naruto said with a grin._

_Gaara only nodded as they slowly walked down the hallway. Naruto's grin faded as they continued to walk, he had a troubled expression on his face. Gaara, of course, noticed it and turned his head toward Naruto, waiting for him to tell him. _

_"What?" Naruto asked as he felt the stare from his brother, turning his face towards Gaara's as well. _

_"..." _

_Naruto sighed and pouted at his brother. Gaara couldn't help but show a small smirk, he could get anything out from his brother just by staring at him. It took a few seconds, but Naruto managed to speak out._

_"The Kaze-I mean, Father...umm.." Naruto managed out, his head tilted slightly towards the ground._

_Both of them stopped and Gaara waited for Naruto to finish his statement or question._

_"Did you notice that he's been...weird ever since I came here?" Naruto hesitantly said, his head was still facing towards the ground._

_"...Yes. Though, Father was always this strange even before you came into the family." Gaara said plainly._

_Naruto raised his head up and looked at his younger brother in confusion and curiosity at his statement. Gaara stared back and opened his mouth to speak._

_"My mother died when I was born. After that, as you can see, Father has been working twenty-four hours everyday on his business." Gaara explained. _

_"Oh..." Naruto trailed off._

_There was silence again. While both of the two began walking towards Naruto's room again, an idea popped into Gaara's head. Continuing to walk, the younger brother turned his head at the side and towards Naruto._

_"Naruto, want to go outside?" Gaara asked._

_"Eh?" Naruto turned his head towards Gaara, blinking in confusion._

_"Let's go to the beach." Gaara said again._

_Naruto stopped walking and tilted his head slightly to the side at his brother. Gaara stopped as well and could practically feel a question was going to surface. _

_He was right._

_"Brother, are you alright?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows furrowing._

_"I'm fine. Is there something wrong?" Gaara replied and asked, turning his head towards Naruto._

_"No, it's just that...it's kinda rare for you to think of asking to go outside. It's always me, you know?" Naruto said as he shifted his bags of snacks onto his left arm, and used his unoccupied arm to scratch the back of his head sheepishly._

_"...I just wanted to talk, outside." Gaara said plainly, his red bangs covering his eyes._

_"Oh okay." Naruto said with a grin stretched across his face._

_"I wanted to get out too. I mean, I wanted to get some fresh air." Naruto said, now his right hand scratching his bandaged cheek nervously._

_Gaara nodded and they continued to go to Naruto's bedroom. Once they were at the blonde's room, they placed all the snacks under his bed (so they could eat it after coming back) and Gaara quickly left to his room to change. While Gaara was changing, he noticed something glinted lightly from the light. Quickly finishing his changing, Gaara walked closer to look at the glinting object._

_It was the digital camera he received from his birthday...almost a year ago. _

_The red-haired boy picked it up and looked at it. It was about the size of his palm (though, slightly bigger) with small streaks of lime green, but it's mostly silver. An idea popped into his mind._

_"Gaara! Hurry up!" Naruto said as he knocked at his brother's door._

_Snapping out of his thoughts, Gaara placed the camera into his back pocket and left his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, Gaara noticed Naruto shoving his hand in his front pockets impatiently. A small pout was on his face, but quickly turned into a grin as he saw Gaara. Both began to walk towards the house's entrance. _

_"Eh...Gaara, shouldn't we tell someone that we're leaving?" Naruto said as soon as they got out of the house._

_"...Don't worry, I have my cell phone." Gaara hesitantly said, grabbing his red cell phone from his front pocket and showing it to Naruto._

_Naruto nodded happily as they both continued to walk. The two brothers chatted as they made their way to the beach. Once they arrived, the sun was beginning to set, creating a beautiful bright, but warm color around the skies. Naruto grinned as he ran towards the playground that was right across the beach and grabbed a seat on the swings. _

_"Come on Gaara!" Naruto said, waving his arms towards his brother._

_Gaara nodded, looking at Naruto. The red-haired boy finally looked around the area. There were no children at the beach or playground, nor any couples holding hands while walking down the beach. Though, there was a small store near the playground. Without thinking, Gaara said to Naruto._

_"I'm going to get some drinks." _

_Naruto turned around and nodded with a smile on his face. Then, turned back to watch the sunset. Gaara quickly ran towards the shop, bought two sodas, and came back to the playground. Naruto was still there, his back was towards him and he was facing the sun. _'The camera...' _Gaara remembered. He set the sodas down silently on the concrete floor. _

_Gaara grabbed the camera from his back pocket and aimed it towards Naruto. It was slightly awkward for him since he had never used the camera (or any camera), and didn't know much about using a camera besides pressing a certain button to take a picture. _'Though...why do I have the urge to take a picture now?' _Gaara questioned himself, but soon shook it away. _'It's just a picture.'

_So he turned on his camera and held it in front of him to take the picture of the sight. Pressing the button on top of the digital camera, he took the picture. After a few more seconds, he saw the picture he took on the small screen. Satisfied by the picture, Gaara placed the camera back into his back pocket, grabbed the sodas on the ground, and silently walked towards Naruto. _

_"Wow..." Naruto whispered in amazement as he continued to stare at the sunset._

_"Naruto." Gaara said quietly, hoping that he didn't surprise his brother. _

_Naruto turned his head towards Gaara (who was a few steps behind him) and smiled. Gaara gave Naruto the soda from his right hand and sat on the swing next to him. They both continued to stare at the sunset, drinking chilled soda._

_"So...what did you want to talk to me about?" Naruto asked, his head turning towards Gaara._

_"..." Gaara tried to think of how to start the question._

_"Gaara?" Naruto asked again, his head now slowly leaning towards Gaara in concern._

_"Brother, I wanted to ask you about...Kyuubi." Gaara said with his head turned towards Naruto._

_Naruto sat still, his eyes widen in surprise of the subject. His eyes showed sadness as he pulled back and stared at the sunset again. _

_"So...what did you want to know?" Naruto said._

_"Did he ever make a will?" Gaara asked, continuing to stare at Naruto._

_Naruto turned his head at Gaara and shook his head. As if realizing that Kyuubi did not have a will, his lowered his head in sadness. Though, it was not because Naruto wanted his uncle's money. It was just that thinking about him...made him sad, even if Naruto was falsely blamed by the murders of the people, he still loved his uncle. _

_"Why?" Naruto asked, his head slowly raising up and staring at Gaara._

_"..." Another problem Gaara had to decide to tell or not._

'But...We're brothers, right?' _Gaara thought. _'Though, if Kyuubi did not have a will and Father finds out...What will happen to Naruto?' _The questions was grating on his nerves now, but secretly, he didn't want to think about it._

_"You don't have to answer, okay?" Naruto said with a reassuring smile._

_"...I have a guess...about why father adopted you." Gaara began, ignoring the statement Naruto just said._

_"Father thought that Kyuubi had made a will...and that he had included you...as his heir." Gaara said._

_"What?" Naruto said, his eyes slowly widening in shock._

_Gaara lowered his gaze towards the grains of sand in front of him. There was a thick silence that continued for a minute, until Gaara looked up at Naruto. The blonde's eyes continued to show shock, but a great amount of sadness was in his eyes as well. Gaara made a small frown at the expression, scolding at himself. _

_"I..." Naruto trailed off as he lowered his gaze. _

_"It's still a guess. So, don't worry about it." Gaara ressured and then shifted uncomfortably after realizing how different he sounded._

_Naruto looked up and let out a small smile._

_"Yeah...I guess." Naruto said as he scratched his right bandaged cheek sheepishly._

_"He'll tell us sometime, right?" Naruto asked._

_Gaara nodded with a small smile at the corner of his mouth. Naruto turned around so that his back was facing Gaara. Gaara raised an eyebrow at his brother and leaned towards him to see what he was doing. _'What is he-'

_Before he could finish his thoughts, a bucket full of sand was dumped onto his head. _

_Gaara sputtered out the sand that was in his mouth while shaking his head to get the sand grains out of his hair. Meanwhile, Naruto was laughing loudly, clutching his stomach as if in pain from the laughing._

_"Hahaha, got ya!" Naruto shouted with a grin half the size of his face._

_"Naruto!" Gaara said as he dropped the sand covered soda from his hand and tackled his brother. _

_The two fell from the swings and began to wrestle like they had done a few minutes ago at the mansion. After 15 minutes, the two stopped. Naruto had a large grin on his face as he panted, while Gaara smirked, quietly panting himself. Then, Gaara remembered the camera in his back pocket and cursed quietly. Naruto cocked his head in curiosity as he watched Gaara take out the small digital camera._

_"You brought your camera?" Naruto asked._

_"Yeah." Gaara said plainly as he inspected the camera to see if there were any damages._

_"Let me see." Naruto said joyfully as he scooted next to Gaara._

_Naruto looked at the camera and squinted his eyes, looking like a fox. Gaara turned his head towards Naruto and raised an eyebrow at his brother. _'What is he thinking about?' _Gaara thought. Usually when Naruto squinted his eyes, he was thinking about something._

_"You only have one picture in your camera." Naruto said as he cocked his head to the opposite side of Gaara._

_Gaara blinked as he looked at the camera screen. Naruto was right, there was only one picture and that was the picture he took a few minutes ago._

_"Gah!" Narto shouted as he heard a surprising ring between them._

_Gaara also flinched at the annoying ring tone of his cell phone. He turned and saw Naruto fall sideways, clutching his heart. The older brother couldn't help but smirk, which earned a weak glare from Naruto._

_"Gaara, you need to change your ring tone. That scared the heck out of me!" Naruto said as he stood up and brushed the grains of sand from his clothes._

_Gaara simply ignored him and pressed call on his cell phone._

_"Hello?" Gaara said as he looked at Naruto._

_"Gaara, where is Naruto and where the hell are you?!" _

_Gaara flinched at the voice, it was their father. Naruto noticed the flinch and stopped patting his clothes._

_"I'm with Naruto. We're at the beach." Gaara said shortly and calmly to his father._

_He heard his father take a sharp breath as if to yell at him again, but a voice cut him off. It was a male's and the person was calmly talking to him, but he was too far and quiet for Gaara to hear what he was saying. After the man finished speaking, the Kazekage took a longer breath and began to talk._

_"Gaara. I want you and Naruto to come home right now." Gaara's father calmly said._

_"...Why?" Gaara said hesitantly, then mentally cursing himself for his curiosity._

_"Just!...Just come home. We're having a family meeting." The Kazekage said before he disconnected without hearing his son's reply._

_Gaara just stood there, his eyes widen in shock. _'Family meeting? We never have that.' _Gaara thought. He heard Naruto's footsteps walk towards him._

_"Gaara, who was that?" Naruto asked, his voice showed concern._

_"...That was Father. He wants us to 'come home'." Gaara said, suspicion was in his voice._

_Naruto cocked his head in confusion towards his brother. Gaara just shook his head, seemed that both of them didn't know why. Never the less, they grabbed the forgotten (and sandy) soda cans from the ground, threw them in the trash, and walked back to their home. Gaara kept an expressionless mask on as they walked, but dread was crossing in his thoughts. _'What is he going to say...do?' _Gaara thought, his eyes staring at what was in front of the street. _

_He felt Naruto stare at him in concern. Gaara turned his head and gave Naruto a small smile to show that he was alright. Naruto gave one last look before grinning back and turning his head towards what was in front of him. After that, both of the brothers didn't talk until they arrived at the steps of the mansion._

_"Gaara."_

_Gaara stopped getting his key out of his front pocket and looked at Naruto. _

_"I...never mind." Naruto dismissed, a grin was replaced from the uncertainty on his face._

_Gaara couldn't help but nod, he knew that Naruto felt that something bad was going to happen once they were in the house. Gaara took his left hand and patted ressuringly on his brother's shoulder. The grin faded and was replaced by a real smile. Letting go of Naruto's shoulder, Gaara took out his house key and opened the front door. _

_They were greeted by servants, with worry and fear on their face._

_"T-The Kazekage w-wants to see you at his o-office." One of the maids said, her head lowered towards the ground in fear._

_Gaara raised his eyebrow, but nodded. Naruto did the same thing and they both watched as the servants walked away quickly into the dining room. Naruto and Gaara looked at each other in confusion, but shrugged it off. They walked up the stairs and walked down the hallway. As they stood in front of their father's office, it seemed that they both took a pause. Seemed that both of them felt uneasy to enter their father's office, even though it was usual to feel that way. Never the less, Naruto grasped the knob and opened the door._

_"There you are." _

_Naruto jumped back slightly in surprise from the unexpected voice, but Gaara stood still as he was already used to their father's sudden voice. Gaara noticed that there were two other people in the room, bodyguards. _'Wh-' _Gaara began in his thoughts, but was cut off._

_"Naruto." Their father began._

_Gaara noticed that his father was sitting at his desk. He had a deep frown on his face, which made many wrinkles appear on his face. The red-haired boy felt Naruto tense when their father said his name._

_"I will ask this once and once only, do you have a will?" The Kazekage said, there was a hint of anger in his voice._

_"No." Naruto said, confusion was in his eyes as he stared at his father._

_Both of the boys jumped back as they heard and saw their father slam his right fist onto the desk. His face was showed anger and looked like he was controlling it by clenching his teeth. Naruto scooted closer towards Gaara in fear as the same with Gaara. _'I was right...' _Gaara thought as multiple invisible chills ran down his back, but anger was beginning to grow inside. _'He wanted the money...'

_"Why...?" Gaara whispered._

_"What?" The Kazekage said as he snapped his head back up and glared at the two._

_"Why do you need more money when we have enough?" Gaara said slightly louder as he stared back at his father._

_"Enough?! Money is unlimited!" The Kazekage shouted as he quickly stood up and glared at Gaara in anger._

_Gaara instinctively took a step back in fear. Naruto also took a step back, but a bit further than Gaara as the blonde step closer to his brother. Gaara didn't notice, he was too shocked at his father's outburst towards him about...money. _'He has gone insane.' _Gaara thought as his eyes widened and lowered towards the carpet. _'He has become greedy.' _The small voice added, some sort of hardness was in the voice. _

_"It seems." The Kazekage began, breaking Gaara out of his thoughts._

_"That Naruto has given you a bad influence."_

_Gaara's eyes widened further as he snapped his head back up and stared at his father in shock. Naruto continued to to stare at their father, but his mouth was open in shock and disbelief. There were thoughts that crossed Gaara's mind immediately after the Kazekage's statement._

'How dare you.'

_"Gaara!"_

_Gaara furiously marched over to his father. Before he could even get 10 feet at his father's desk, the bodyguards grasped each of his arms and stopping him. Gaara struggled at the grasp, but soon stopped even though anger was still in his veins. The Kazekage's expression turned from anger to amusement, which fueled Gaara's anger for him._

_"You see! Before he was taken into this family, you showed more respect for me. Though now..." The Kazekage trailed off, his eyes still showing amusement._

_"I...I showed respect for you every single day." Gaara began, his eyes narrowing at his father._

_"Now, all of that respect has been erased because of your attention to money is greater than us." _

_Gaara heard Naruto let out a small gasp in surprise of the statement. Though, his attention was all on his father who was curling his right fist in anger and his eyes narrowing as well towards Gaara. After a long minute of silence, a calm smirk appeared on the Kazekage's face. Gaara couldn't help but shiver at the smirk, but continued to glare at his father._

_"If you do not respect me anymore, then it looks like you will have to learn again to respect me...Starting with Naruto." _

'What?'

_"Wha-? Let me go!"_

_Gaara quickly turned around and saw one other bodyguard appeared out of nowhere (he seemed to be hiding during the discussion) and grabbed Naruto by the arms. Naruto struggled, kicking his legs up franticly as he tried to move his arms as well. Gaara ran towards Naruto, but was stopped by the two other bodyguards. Gaara struggled as well, but failed to get free._

_"Since it is proven that Naruto has no inheritance from Kyuubi and the adoption form is not yet completed." The Kazekage said as both of the boys continued to struggle._

_"I will take Naruto to the adoption agency and decline him as of this family."_

_Gaara felt the world crashing down at him. _'What?! How can he-' _Gaara thought, but he then knew the answer. _'Bribery.' _The voice said hauntingly as if the words echoed on his thoughts. His thoughts were cut off when he heard Naruto yell and being thrown over the shoulder of the bodyguard. Naruto and Gaara continued to struggle as the distance between them has increased. The bodyguard walked towards the double doors of the room and opened the door._

_"Naruto!" _

_"Gaara! Help me!" Naruto shouted as he reached out his right arm towards Gaara._

_Gaara continued to struggle until both the bodyguard and Naruto left. _'Brother...' _But, no, he and Naruto were not brothers...not anymore. Gaara felt the bodyguards release his arms and he fell onto the carpet, sadness overcoming him. He knew that before he could even go downstairs, Naruto would be gone and guilt overcame him as well. He heard his father open a small drawer from his desk and walked towards the bodyguard from his left side._

_"Give this to this to that _thing_. Half of the needle." The Kazekage said, a scowl appeared on his face as he said "Thing"._

_He felt anger course into his veins again because of his father, but couldn't do anything about it. He saw the bodyguards nod at the corner of his eyes and walked in front of him. The bodyguard was holding a needle and small vial of white liquid._

_**"Ignorance."**_

_Gaara memorized the word, immediately thinking of going to research it...for Naruto. Gaara slowly stood up, his back was still facing his father and his red hair shadowed his eyes. He heard his father turned towards him and stared at him with a triumphant look across his face._

_"You may now leave." The Kazekage said._

_Gaara turned his head to face his father and gave him his most cold-hearted and angry glare towards him. Three words were spoken out of his mouth._

_"I. Hate. You."_

_He saw the Kazekage shiver at the glare, but felt no amusement of it...only anger at the Kazekage. Gaara walked out of the office, closing the door along the way, and saw Temari and Kankuro standing in front of him. Temari gave him a sad smile while Kankuro gave him a sad look. Then, Gaara realized something. _'They knew..all along.' _Anger began to burst inside him like a volcano, a feeling a betrayal of his older brother and sister stung him. _

_"I'm sorry-" Temari began as she placed her right hand on Gaara's left shoulder._

_Her statement was cut off when Gaara roughly shoved off the hand from his shoulder and gave them the same glare he gave to the Kazekage. Temari and Kankuro shivered at the glare, they had never seen Gaara so angry before. Without a word, Gaara sharply turned to his left and walked down the hallway. He heard his two siblings followed him, but kept a small distance from him as well. Though, he ignored them and continued to look at the hallway. _

'Naruto...I will find you.'

_Gaara forgot the camera in his pocket, the only picture that he had of Naruto._

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------End of Flashback------------------------------------------------**

"The liquid in the container that the bodyguard held was actually an illegal drug." Gaara explained.

"It was a drug that did not make people worse, but made them lose a certain part of memory in their mind. Though, the drug hasn't been tested yet and not strong enough, a full injection could only lose someone's memory for the past two weeks. While an injection with half of the substance could erase someone's memories for the past week. Enough for you to lose that part of the memory." Gaara explained.

"I...remember everything now." Naruto said, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

_'This is so much.' _Naruto thought, feeling that his brain was going to explode from all the memories reappearing. _'But...' _

"How did you find me?" Naruto asked as he continued to stare at Gaara.

"I didn't. I've been searching for you at the adoption, but as soon as I came, you were already adopted by those...people." Gaara said with a small frown across his lips.

"I went to search for your adopted parents and you, but found out that your foster parents hid their address and I could not find what place you lived at." Gaara explained, his green eyes hardened during the explanation.

_'Most of the distractions were from the Kazekage, but he's dead.' _Gaara thought, a flick of irony crossed his thought. _'To think that he would be shot and killed because of his business and false claims of owning Kyuubi's money.' _

"Gaara?"

Gaara snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Naruto. Naruto shifted uncomfortably both at the situation and the information. The blonde looked up and noticed that the sun was about to set. Naruto's eyes widened in remembrance of something.

"Gah! I completely forgot about the cello lessons today!" Naruto said, his face was in panic as he stood up.

"I've got to go! I'll talk to you later Gaara!" Naruto shouted as he quickly ran down the street.

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow at the running blonde, but a tiny amused smirk was on his lips. _'Better than I expected.' _Gaara thought as he shoved his hands into his front pockets and walked out of the park.

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**A/N: So that's the last of Gaara's past! This chapter (for some reason) took me forever (which is strnge becuase I completely thought throught everything on the chapter . maybe it's because of schoolwork...damn -.-). Aaaanyways, the next chapter will, of course, be posted soon (at least, it's not going to be two months O.o). **

**Also, it looks like I've made a mistake...-.-; I just researched online about Naruto and Gaara's birthdays (to see which is older) and found out that Gaara's older...not Naruto O.O Though, I'm not going to change that (and it's a alternative universe, so anything could be changed XD).**

**Anyways, review!**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm baack! XD Sorry it took so long...writer's block (note to self: don't wear contacts when typing story -.-;;). I have been downloading songs like crazy over this J-pop/J-rock singer (Gackt) -.-;; Though, it has given me some inspiration over this chapter :D Anyways, this'll be (kinda) like chapter 13, calm before storm. Meaning it'll be a pretty short chapter (at least, shorter than my usual chapters) Anyways, enjoy!**

**astarte lea is forever awsome :3**

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_'I can't believe that I forgot!' _Naruto thought as he continued to run down the street. His thoughts soon turned towards something else. _'Gaara is my brother?' _Naruto questioned in his thoughts. _'No...he usedto be my brother.' _The blonde shook off the thoughts from his head and continued to run. '_Though...it hurts when I think about it.' _

Naruto stopped his running and panted heavily as he arrived at Kakashi's music shop. A nervous feeling swept through him as he looked at the entrance. _'Kakashi-sensei...' _A blush ran across the blonde's face and intensified with the redness from the running. _'Get a grip!' _Naruto shook his head and looked at the door intensely. He grabbed the door knob and went inside the shop.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto called out.

"Never thought that I would be earlier than you, Naruto." Kakashi said, his eye in a crescent as he continued to look at his orange book.

"Oh, eh...sorry." Naruto said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I'll let it slide this time." Kakashi said, his eye curving up.

Naruto blinked grinning in relief. He looked at Kakashi and saw that he was staring back at him. Naruto felt a blush beginning to surface again and looked down. Kakashi looked at his student with amusement showing in his eye. Naruto pouted at he continued to stare at the floor. _'Come on!' _Naruto thought. _'I need to practice. I can't let this stop me!' _Naruto snapped his head up in confidence, which made his teacher more amused, and grinned at Kakashi.

"So...uh...can we start?" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Your cello is over there." Kakashi said as he tilted his head slightly over to his right.

Naruto looked to his left and saw his cello lying on the side next to the wall. Naruto walked towards the cello, grabbed it gently by the neck, and began to prepare for the lesson.

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A certain red-haired boy was walking down the street. His right hand held a small piece of paper, showing an address. _'Just a few more blocks.' _Gaara thought. His left hand was in his pocket, but it was also holding a piece of paper as well. His lips were in a tight line as he repeated the process in his mind. A quiet screech stopped Gaara. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes at the car that stopped his train of thoughts.

It was a black limo, or in other words, Temari's limo going towards him. Gaara could recognize the faint scratch at the front from when one of the workers accidentally dropped something sharp and it slide off. Minutes later, the worker was fired, but Temari left the scratch un-repaired because it was so faint. The limo stopped beside Gaara, the passenger door next to him.

The passenger window opened, and as expected, Temari face appeared with a worried expression.

"Where were you, Gaara?" Temari said quietly.

"I need to talk to someone." Gaara said plainly with his usual stoic face looking back at his sister.

Temari stayed silent, but her lips were pressed together as if she wanted to say something. _'We were supposed to pick Gaara up from school.' _Temari remembered as she turned slightly to see Kankuro sitting quietly behind her. _'Where could he have gone?' _Another question passed through her thoughts that seemed to even ignore her fear of her little brother, and have curiosity take over.

"Did...you tell Naruto?" Temari hesitantly asked, feeling Kankuro tense in surprise.

"Yes." Gaara said straight forward as he took a step to continue walking.

Temari ordered the limo to back up at the same time to show that she wasn't finished yet. Gaara again stopped and narrowed his eyes at his sister with what looked like annoyance in his eyes. Temari fought the shiver down her spine, but was shocked that he had told Naruto without them. Behind Temari, Kankuro frowned at Gaara's answer, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, he asked something else.

"Where are you going?"

Temari moved from the window and turned to look at Kankuro with a surprised expression. While Gaara also looked at Kankuro, unfazed by the question.

"I mean, do you need a ride. Since, it's obvious that you not going back home." Kankuro quickly added, feeling discomfort from the stares.

Temari glanced back at Gaara, expecting a decline from her youngest brother. After Naruto was "un-adopted" from the family, Gaara wanted to have no part of the family and declined of every offer of help.

"Yeah." Came a quiet reply from the red-haired boy.

Temari turned her head back towards Gaara with her eyes now widening in surprise. Kankuro was surprised as well, but it was slightly covered because of his face paint. Though, he quickly recovered and cleared his throat.

"...Uh. Well, okay." Kankuro said nervously.

Temari slowly opened the passenger door and both of the siblings in the car scooted over for space. Gaara silently walked towards the limo and got in. As he closed the door, Gaara looked at the driver. The driver looked at the Sabaku siblings from his mirror and looked away in fear from Gaara's cold gaze.

"So, where do you need to go?" Temari asked softly as she turned looked at her youngest brother.

"...1201 Benolvue Street."

With that said, the driver began to turn the car around and drove down the street.

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Naruto squinted his eyes as he stared at the two pieces of sheet music in front of him. Bold letters from the left sheet of music showed the name of the music, "Waltz". He slowly played the music while Kakashi stood beside the blonde boy and listened for mistakes.

He found one.

"You were too quick on the rest at measure 16." Kakashi pointed out.

"Eh?" Naruto said as he stopped playing and looked at the measure.

"Start over again."

Naruto didn't say anything, but pouted at restarting the song all over again. The song was difficult for him because for most of the notes he had to slide down his fingers in order to play. Never the less, Naruto replayed the song while keeping in check of the beat. After managing to finish half of the second page, Kakashi stopped him.

"That's it for today." Kakashi said, his eye curving.

Naruto blinked and looked at Kakashi. A grin soon appeared on Naruto's lips.

"Okay!" Naruto said as he got up and began to carry the cello and bow to the storage room.

Before Naruto could take step, Kakashi walked towards him and pulled the cello away from Naruto, leaving him with the bow.

"Eh? Hey!" Naruto protested, his cheeks puffing up in another pout.

"Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself." Kakashi joked, his eye curving again as Naruto blushed.

Kakashi walked into the storage room with Naruto behind him. Once they finished placing the cello inside, a thought crossed Naruto and made him remember something. Naruto searched for something inside his pockets.

"Oh yeah! Kakashi-sensei, I forgot to give you something." Naruto said.

"Hm?" Kakashi said as he looked up from the "Icha Icha Tactics Vol. 2" book he held.

The blonde soon felt something brush past his left hand and he grinned. _'Found it!' _Naruto took it out and held it out towards Kakashi.

It was...money, exactly 3,200 yen.

"I forgot to pay you for the cello lessons." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't worry about paying." Kakashi simply said as he turned his attention back to the book.

"Huh? But, the poster said that the fee for the lessons was 3,200 yen." Naruto said, as he cocked his head to the side.

"Oh, that. I decided that I wasn't going to charge the lessons."

"What?! When did you decide that?" Naruto said as he puffed up his cheeks in anger.

"Just a few minutes ago." Kakashi said as he continued to read.

"WHAT?!"

Kakashi winced and stuck his pinky in his right ear from the loud yell.

"That's not fair! I still need to give you the fee for the past lessons." Naruto said as he glared at the older man.

"Don't worry about it." Kakashi replied.

Naruto growled in anger as he just grabbed Kakashi left hand (his right hand was holding the book) and placed the money in it. Naruto quickly moved his hand away and stuffed them in his pockets. Before he could grin in triumphant, Kakashi closed his book, put it inside his pocket and grabbed Naruto's right arm.

"Hey-!" Naruto said with his eyes widening in shock.

Kakashi pulled Naruto's hand out of his pocket and turned it gently around so his palm was facing up. He then placed the money in the blonde's palm and closed his fingers about it.

"I don't want it." Kakashi said, his eye looking at Naruto.

Naruto's breath hitched slightly as a blush creep across his cheeks from the surprised contact. A second later, Kakashi's eye curved into a crescent shape and he let go of Naruto's hand. Naruto blinked in wonder of what just happened, but his fingers were still clasped onto the money.

"Anyways, do you have a place to stay?" Kakashi said as he began to take out the orange book again.

Naruto lowered his head at the realization. _'I don't have a place to go. I definitely can't go back to Mishiba and Koyra.' _Naruto shivered at that thought, his eyes squinting like a fox. _'Maybe-' _Naruto continued, but was interrupted.

Both the guys turned to the front door as they heard the bell sound out of someone coming in. Naruto's eyes widen in surprise at the person.

"Kiba?"

"Hey, Blonde." Kiba said with a carefree wave.

Akamaru's head popped up from Kiba's jacket and barked out his own hello. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the brown-haired boy in curiosity. _'A friend, I suppose.' _Kakashi thought.

"Er...what are you doing here?" Naruto said awkwardly, scratching cheek lightly.

Kiba tensed at the question while Akamaru let out a small whine, sensing his master's discomfort. _'Damn it!' _Kiba cursed in his thoughts as he quickly found an excuse.

"...Well, eh. Ah, screw it." Kiba began loudly then faded into a mumble at the end.

"I need to talk to ya, Naruto...alone." Kiba said, stuffing his hands in his jacket.

"Eh...sure." Naruto said.

Naruto looked at Kakashi. Understanding, Kakashi nodded and walked outside the store. Hearing the bells ring and become silence as the door is closed, Kiba cleared his throat. Akamaru jumped out of his jacket and stretched his body. _'Not exactly how I thought of it, but I'll have to force him out of it.' _Kiba thought as he scowled. Meanwhile, Naruto looked in concern at his friend when he scowled.

"Kiba, you o-" Naruto began, but was cut off.

"Who's hitting you?" Kiba asked as he stared hard at the blonde.

"What?" Naruto said, blinking.

"I'll say it again: Who's hitting you? And don't you say that no one is." Kiba said.

Akamaru stepped back at his master's serious voice and looked at Naruto. The blonde's eyes widened in shock. _'What?' _Naruto thought as he continued to stare at Kiba. _'How did he...' _Naruto trailed off his thoughts. He could only manage to say one thing to reply.

"W-What are you talking about?" Naruto said, acting as if he was oblivious to the subject.

"Naruto. Look, you know that I'm not the kind of person that's into all that cliché crap, but everyone's worried about you." Kiba said as he ran his right hand through his hair.

Naruto was a bit taken back at the statement. He felt a pain of guilt at the thought of all of his friends worrying over him. _'But...I can't tell them...at least, not now.' _Naruto thought as he looked at the carpeted floor in front of him. _'Then, when will you be able to tell them?' _It was voice again, asking and telling him that made him realize things.

"I...can't tell you."

Now, Kiba was already angry at Naruto's oblivious act, but now, he was furious. Growling, Kiba walked towards Naruto and grabbed him by the collar. He lifted him up to his toes so that they were both eye to eye.

"Why can't you?! Didn't you hear me? Everyone's worried ever since you got those bruises. For weeks, we keep asking you about them and hoping that you'll tell us. But, all you do is ignore them and talking about something else. We want to help you-"

"There's nothing you can do to help me." Naruto interrupted, glaring back at Kiba in anger.

Kiba was a bit taken back from the outburst, but glared back as well. Naruto jerked back away from Kiba, making the brown-haired back lose his grip on the collar. Of course, Kiba was hurt at the statement, but he didn't show it. Meanwhile, Naruto stared at Kiba for a few seconds and lowered his gaze back to the ground.

"I just can't tell you right now."

"Then I-I mean, _we_ will wait." Kiba said as he stared at the blonde.

As soon as those words came out of his lips, Kiba felt a sense of irony flow through him. _'Damn genius.' _Kiba cursed in thought of a certain lazy genius. Naruto lifted his head back up and nodded, a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"Then, I'll talk to ya later tomorrow. You'll be in school on time, right?" Kiba joked, a smirk was on his face.

"Hey! I just overslept!" Naruto protested, a small blush surfacing across his cheeks.

"Uh huh." Kiba said, acting as if he didn't believe a single word.

Kiba chuckled as he saw Naruto glare at him. So, Kiba raised his hands up in a mocking surrender.

"Alright, alright. I'll see ya later, Blonde." Kiba said as he walked towards the entrance door.

"Let's go Akamaru." Kiba ordered and in a second, Akamaru got up from his laying position and ran to his master's side.

"See you later, Dog Breath!" Naruto said with a grin as the two walked out of the store.

Once Kiba and Akamaru left outside, Kakashi opened the door and walked inside his shop. He closed the door and looked at Naruto.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, noticed the wrinkles on the blondes' collar.

"Yeah!" Naruto said with a small grin.

Naruto looked at the hanging clock. _'5:00 already?' _Naruto thought. He then remembered something. The blonde went to grab his backpack and looked back at Kakashi.

"I'm going to see Iruka-sensei." Naruto said as he passed by Kakashi.

"Bye, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said again as he opened the entrance door.

"Naruto."

Naruto stopped, his body was already halfway through outside. He cocked his head curiously at his teacher.

"You didn't answer my question." Kakashi stated, his eye was staring at the book instead of Naruto.

Naruto tensed, remembering the question. _'Damn.' _Naruto cursed. He didn't have anywhere to stay, but he couldn't stay at Kakashi's house...the blonde already felt bad enough to burdening him from staying there for one night.

"Uh, yeah." Naruto lied, a nervous grin was across his face.

As soon as he said that, Naruto fully walked out of the shop. Kakashi looked up from his book and stared at where Naruto left.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hosptial-------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto quietly entered the hospital with his head held up high and a cheery grin on his face. Though behind the grin, the blonde was trying to ignore the glares from the people and patients. He walked into the elevator, relieved that no one was in it, and went to the second floor. Naruto stuffed his hands inside his pockets as he waited for the elevator to stop.

The elevator soon came to a halt and the doors opened. Naruto quickly, but quietly got out and ran to room 203. Naruto took a deep breath, trying his best to relax, and knocked on the white door.

"Come in!" Was the muffled reply.

Naruto opened the door slowly, only popping his head inside the room. The blonde looked around the room (noticing the same color as he saw last time: white) and looked at his teacher.

"Hello, Naruto." Iruka said as he sweat dropped at Naruto's...uh...caution.

"Oh! Eh, hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as he quickly got in the room.

"I wanted to make sure I didn't disturb you since it's pretty late." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"It's okay. You can always come to me if you need to talk." Iruka said with a smile.

Naruto suddenly tensed as he thought of last night. _'Mishiba and Koyra...Kakashi-sensei.' _Naruto remembered briefly, a small blush appeared on his whiskered cheeks at the last thought.

"Naruto." Iruka said, snapping Naruto's train of thoughts.

"I talked to Sakura a few minutes ago. She told me everything..."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat and his breath hitched slightly.

"...about last night."

Naruto's let out a relieved breath, but he was still worried about what Sakura told Iruka. The blonde could feel his teacher staring hard at him and so, Naruto looked at Iruka in the eyes.

"Naruto, come here." Iruka said, his eyes betraying no emotion.

Naruto slowly, cautiously, walked towards Iruka and sat down on the chair next to the bed. All the time, he didn't break the gaze between them. In a speed of light, Iruka balls up his right fist and knocks dead onto Naruto's head. Naruto immediately saw bright stars in his vision.

"OW! What was that for!" Naruto shouted as he jumped back from the bed and clutched his head in pain.

"That's what you get for being so careless!" Iruka shouted back, his eyes now showing anger.

"You could've gotten hurt by Mishiba and the others! If Sakura and Ino weren't there, you would've been killed!" Iruka continued, his eyes are slowly showing concern and worry.

There it was; the guilt. Naruto lowered his eyes from another memory of last night. Sakura, taking the punch from Mishiba when it was obviously for him and both her and Ino...distracting the others in order for him to run. _'I could've done something.' _Naruto thought with guilt weighting on his shoulders like boulders. _'I shouldn't have walked with Sakura to my house...or else she wouldn't have gotten hit.' _The blonde clenched his fists tightly.

"Though, there is one thing I can't be angry at." Iruka said as he stared at Naruto's head.

"It's that I now know that Sakura can be trusted."

Naruto snapped his head up and blinked in surprise. Iruka was smiling, no traces of concern or anger in his eyes...just relief. Naruto couldn't help but smile back, slightly relieved as well. Though, some weight of the guilt was on his shoulders from the continuous thought of doing something more at that time.

"But, where did you go after that?" Iruka asked.

"Eh...At Kakashi-sensei's house." Naruto replied back, with a blush resurfacing back onto his cheeks.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at Naruto's blush. _'Hmmm, could it be?' _Iruka thought, blinking in surprise. _'Naruto, has...a crush?' _Iruka smiled and let out a small chuckled at the realization of the other times where Naruto blushed for no reason. _'Must be thinking about that 'person'.' _

"Eh...Iruka-sensei, are you okay?" Naruto asked, slightly scared at his teacher chuckling for no reason.

"Naruto...do you like someone?"

Naruto choked on his spit. Naruto bent over and coughed at the surpising statement. Iruka reached over and patted on Naruto's back. _'Maybe I was too straight forward.' _Iruka thought as he sweat dropped.

"Sorry about asking that out of no where." Iruka apologized.

Naruto regained his breath and looked at Iruka as if he was insane. Though, the blush deepened without his control. _'W-What?' _Naruto thought with fear. _'Do I...like someone?' _Naruto thought, a sudden brief image of Kakashi ran across his mind. Meanwhile, Iruka saw the deepened blush and knew that he was right.

"So, I was right." Iruka smiled.

Naruto looked at the ground in embarrassment and (again) confirmed Iruka's guess. _'Well...I did say that I liked Kakashi-sensei, right?' _Naruto thought, remembering the realization last night. _'But...why is Iruka-sensei so calm? I mean, I thought he would be flailing right now at the thought of me going out with a guy. Much less with a guy that's older than me...' _

"So who's the lucky girl?" Iruka said.

The blonde tensed at the question. That statement answered Naruto's question as he raised his head up. He should have relieved, but the problem was...what was going to say? Naruto began to stutter with "E-Eh." and "A-Anou..".

"E-Eh...well, you see. Ah..." Naruto rambled, twiddling his fingers nervously.

"Oh, sorry. I was a bit excited." Iruka said, realizing his problems.

"You don't have to tell me now. I'll wait."

Naruto let out a huge breath of relief. Iruka sweat dropped at the action. _'He must like this girl a lot.' _

"How is the school doing?" Iruka changed the subject.

"Eh!" Naruto responded, tensing again.

_'Did I say something wrong again?' _Iruka sweat dropped, totally oblivious of the certain 'occurrence' happening in school. Immeadiately after that, Naruto quickly stood up straight and scratched his right cheek sheepishly.

"I-I mean, it was good." Naruto stuttered out, immediately scratching the back of his head nervously.

_'Damn! I'm overreacting too much!' _Naruto cursed in his thoughts. The blonde let out a nervous chuckle, but continued on to tell Iruka about school. Fearfully, he told Iruka that he was late ("WHAT?! That Kakashi...") going to school. Also, not adding the 'CPR kiss' and instead said that some other students did it. By the time Naruto was finished, visiting time was over. Not wanting the employees to see him, Naruto quickly stood up.

"I got to go. See you later, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as he quickly opened the door.

He peeked his head out and looked for any signs of the employees. After fully opening the door, Iruka spoke.

"Naruto, you should live with Kakashi for now."

Naruto did a double take and turned towards Iruka with surprise on his face.

"I'm serious. Mishiba and Koyra are probably looking for you right now. It's better if you could stay at someone's house for a couple of days." Iruka said as he stared at Naruto hard.

"I-I can't." Naruto said quietly.

Iruka let out a small gasp of surprise and looked at Naruto strictly.

"Iruka-sensei, I lived with you for two weeks, hiding from them remember? But then, they caught me and ran you over." Naruto said, his hands clenching into fist from the memory.

"I just-I mean, I won't let anyone else get hurt because of me."

"Naruto..." Iruka softened his gaze at the blonde, concern running throughout his mind.

"Don't worry! I'll be fine." Naruto said, a ressuring grin placed in his face.

"Bye Iruka-sensei!"

Naruto opened the door wider and walked out of the room. As the door closed Iruka turned his attention to the window, his worried thoughts about Naruto playing through his head.

Meanwhile, Naruto quickly went down to the first floor. He looked to see if the employees were staring at him and quickly walked out of the hospital. _'How strange that you even have to sneak into the hospital in order to just talk to your sensei.'_ The small voice taunted in his mind, but Naruto ignored it and continued walking. As he continued to walk, Naruto soon began to notice someone leaning against the front gates of the hospital. The blonde walked slower as if waiting and fearing that it was one of his foster parents or adoption agent. As he got nearer and nearer towards the person, he noticed who it was.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said, in both shock and relief.

"Oi." Kakashi greeted with a wave of his right hand, but his eye was still on the orange book he was holding with his other hand.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto said as he slightly cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Just waiting here to...escort you." Kakashi said with his eye now curved.

"What? I don't need an escort." Naruto said, a small frown on his face at the thought of it.

"Well, you don't. Since you know where my house is."

"Huh?" Naruto said as his eyes were now slits, he's confused.

"You're going to live with me for now." Kakashi said with an annoyed sigh.

There was a brief silence.

"WHAT?!"

_'There goes the yelling.' _Kakashi thought with his eye half lidded now as he continued to read the orange book. Naruto was both in shock and anger.

"I mean, well, I'm staying over at a friend's house." Naruto lied.

"No, you're not."

Naruto glared at his teacher. Kakashi released his gaze at the book and stared at Naruto.

"I can tell that your lying." Kakashi said.

Naruto tensed at the statement. _'You were always bad at lying.'_ A voice said again with amusement. _'Shut up.' _Naruto said in a sulking voice. _'But, I'm not going to live with Kakashi-sensei. I don't want him to get hurt-' _Suddenly, Kakashi took a step towards Naruto and grabbed his right hand.

"What happened to Iruka wasn't your fault. He wanted to protect you."

"That's the reason! He protected me, but now look what happened." Naruto said quietly, his eyes aiming towards the ground in front of him.

"I'm sure that he doesn't regret what he did." Kakashi said with a smile.

Naruto snapped his head up in shock. Confusion was in his eyes, but some sort of relief as well. Kakashi raised up Naruto's hand that he held and placed it on his masked face. He kissed the palm of the blondes' hand in sort of a comforting way. Kakashi gazed at Naruto, making the boy blush.

"Come on." Kakashi said with his eye curved as he pulled Naruto's hand.

Naruto felt himself being pulled and dragged by Kakashi as they began to walk. The blonde felt himself blush deeper while Kakashi's eye is still curved, looking happy.

They didn't notice, however, that someone was watching them. Neji kneeled behind the bushes looking at the pair. _'What in the world?' _Neji thought as he then looked at Kakashi. After a few more seconds, he stopped staring and walked away, planning on what he should do.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"We're here Sabaku." The limo driver said as he stopped at a familiar blue house.

Gaara didn't say anything to the drive while Temari and Kankuro said their thanks. Gaara got out of the limo before the driver could even open the door for them. _'Why is he in such a rush?' _Temari thought as she turned and looked at Kankuro. Apparently, he was thinking the same thing as they got out of the limo.

"Wait here." Temari ordered the driver; she had a feeling that this would be quick.

The driver nodded as he went back into the driver's seat. Gaara was already a few steps away from the two. Stepping up their pace, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro arrived at the front of the entrance door. Gaara clenched his fist, glaring at the innocent door as if it killed someone. Raising his right arm, Gaara knocked on the wooden door. The siblings heard a small thump as if someone tripped and someone cursing as well.

"Hold on just a second!" A male voice called out inside the house.

Temari twitched slightly in irritation at the loud noises as Gaara and Kankuro frowned. A few seconds later, the door slowly opened. A head peeked out of the door. Temari resisted the urge to gasp. _'Why are we here?' _Temari thought, knowing the person.

It was Mishiba.

"What do you- Oh, umm. I'm sorry Sir." Mishiba said as he noticed the Sabaku siblings at the front of their door.

Mishiba fully opened the door, bowing in respect. Gaara's frown deepened. Never the less, he spoke.

"Mishiba, I would like to speak with you. About Uzumaki."

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: -sweat drop- I'm such a sucker for making cliffies -.-;; I will update as soon as I can. I'm also sorry if Kiba is a bit OOC (I haven't really thought about his personality -.-;;) Anyways, please review: )**


	18. Chapter 17

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! D I've been busy and haven't had alone time with my computer for a while T.T. Though, I finally finished! xD

Hope you guys like it!

* * *

"Eh...Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said as both he and Kakashi walked down the street. 

"Hm?" Kakashi asked as he stopped walking, turning his head towards Naruto.

"You can let go of my hand now." Naruto muttered with a blush across his cheeks.

"Ah, but, I'm not sure if you'll run away." Kakashi stated; his eye still curved up as if he was enjoying this.

"I won't run away!" Naruto said, resisting the urge to pout.

Kakashi kept smiling, apparently he didn't believe him. Now, Naruto did pout at that as he was (again) dragged by the older man. As they walked, the blonde noticed people stare at them as they passed then. Though, Naruto kept his head down once he met their gazes. It felt...awkward just to see people staring at him when he was holding someone's hand (much less someone way older than him).

_'Holding hands...like we're a couple.' _Naruto realized; a blush was across his cheeks as he instinctively tightened his hold on Kakashi. Kakashi felt Naruto's hold tighten, but continued to walk (all in the while reading his book of course). For what seemed like ages, they finally arrived at Kakashi's house. Kakashi didn't bother to ask Naruto if he needed to get some of his stuff. _'The last thing he needs is to go back into that house.' _He thought.

Not letting go of the blonde's hand yet, Kakashi finished reading the chapter he was on and closed the book. Placing the small book inside his pocket, Kakashi also grabbed the set of keys that were in the pocket as well. Naruto shifted awkwardly as he continued to hold Kakashi's hand, but the older man ignored it. After opening the front door, they both stepped into the house.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Mishiba didn't have the time (nor reflex) to cover the surprise on his face as he stared at the cold glare from Gaara.

"W-What? What are you-come inside first." Mishiba said quickly as he stepped at the side, allowing for the three to go inside.

Gaara said nothing, though he suspected the older man. The Sabaku siblings kept their expressionless mask as they hesitantly walked into the house. Once Temari stepped into the place, an uneasy feeling blasted straight at her. Never the less, she didn't show her discomfort even though it was strong. It seemed Kankuro was feeling the same thing. Gaara stood still once they entered the house, apparently waiting for Mishiba to close the door and lead them to their living room.

"This way." Mishiba said gruffly behind them as he brushed past the siblings.

Sudden sparks of irritation was in Temari towards the man. _'To think that he was so polite at the front door.' _Temari thought angrily as a frown was on her lips. Gaara frowned as well, but followed. As they walked into the living room, they heard a gasp of surprise and a thump of something dropping on the floor. Koyra stood up with a cup of tea on her hand. A remote was on the carpeted floor, indicating that it was the item that was dropped.

"The Sabaku siblings! It is an honor to meet you." Koyra said as she placed the cup quickly on the coffee table and bowed deeply.

Gaara heard Mishiba give out a small snort and quickly covered it by making it sound like a small sneeze. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who noticed it as Koyra gave his a hard glare as her head was up, but she was still in the bowing position. Mishiba's rudeness was grating on Gaara's nerves now and he could tell that his siblings weren't handling it so well either.

"Koyra, can you go into the kitchen? I need to discuss with them." Mishiba said, glaring back as if he was challenging his own wife to try and glare at him.

It seemed it work. Koyra immediately stopped glaring and stood straight up, looking away from her husband as if she was afraid of him (in which Gaara guessed was true).

"It would be best if she joined in the conversation as well." Gaara spoke.

Mishiba turned and gave Gaara a hard stare; it seemed he disliked the idea. Though Koyra's expression was in between interest and nervousness. Never the less, Koyra made a gesture for the Sabaku siblings to sit. Gaara made no move; he planned to make this discussion short. Of course when Gaara didn't move, neither did Temari and Kankuro. It seemed that Koyra felt a bit discomfort and quite offended.

"Could I get you something to drink or eat?" Koyra asked, glancing at all three of them.

"We're just here to discuss something with you two." Gaara said.

After the statement, everything was quiet. Invisible tension became to rise as Mishiba and Koyra (as well as Temari and Kankuro) waited for Gaara to speak.

"As I have said to Mishiba-san, I need to discuss with you two about Uzumaki-san."

"Uzumaki...- oh! You mean...Naruto." Koyra said, sounding as if she forced herself to say the blonde's name.

"Yes. I would like to propose something to you." Gaara said as he placed his hands inside his pockets.

"I ask that you leave Naruto alone."

Koyra let a small gasp of surprise while Mishiba's eyes widen slightly at the comment. All eyes (including Temari and Kankuro) were staring at Gaara. _'What is he doing?' _Temari thought. Both of the older siblings knew Gaara was going to take action, but this was...unexpected (and very blunt). A couple seconds of silence followed until Mishiba spoke.

"What do we get for this?" He said, narrowing his eyes at the red-haired boy.

"Money." Gaara said plainly.

"...How much?" Koyra spoke out quietly.

"First, you agree."

"Oh, no way! You tell us how much the money or else there is no deal." Mishiba said, narrowing his eyes at Gaara.

"...Around $600." Gaara replied.

A large gasp was heard...and Koyra wasn't the only person that did it. _'What is he thinking?' _Temari thought. _'He must know that by keeping Naruto, the orphanage gives them money. Also, the money is only a few dollars difference from what they receive.' _A surprising thought passed her.

_'Unless...'_

"In addition, to the money that you receive from the orphanage monthly." Gaara added, his face showing nothing.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"...What?" Koyra said, apparently not believing what the red-haired boy said.

"Wait a minute! How did you-" Mishiba began, but was cut off.

"I have my resources." Gaara replied.

"Though, do you really think that we will un-adopt Naruto just for that small amount of money?" Koyra said slightly loud, looks like her personality is beginning to shine.

"I did not ask you to un-adopt Naruto. I merely requested that you stay away from Naruto." Gaara said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Another second of silence continued.

"What Gaara-san is trying to say." Temari began.

"Is that the orphanage only sends you the money through mail, they never check if you still have Naruto in your home. So if you agree to this request, you will have the money that we offered. As well as the monthly money and that you... won't have to see Naruto." Temari explain.

_'As well as Naruto doesn't have to see you.' _Temari thought bitterly. It seemed that the blondes' explanation have cleared up Koyra and Mishiba's confusion as they pondered at the offer.

"Excuse us for a moment." Mishiba said politely as he grabbed his wife's arm and steered her out of the living room.

Once they got out of the room did Temari turned to Gaara.

"So...this is what you planned to do all along?" Temari said with a slight surprised look still on her face.

Her only reply was a slight nod. With that...a small voice in the back of her mind spoke _'Is it enough?' _The blonde girl turned to the space where Mishiba and Koyra once stood a few seconds ago. _'Yes...but only for a few months.' _Temari thought. A question sprouted.

"What will happen if they have spent it all in the later months?" Temari asked out loud.

"Then they will try to get Naruto again until we give them another deal." Gaara said.

_'Sooner or later, their greed will grow uncontrollably.' _Gaara thought. _'Like the others. They're the same, no change or difference.' _

"...Wait." Temari said.

"Why would they need to capture Naruto again if the adoption agency doesn't know if they even keep them in they're house?"

"Temari...don't you get it?" Kankuro spoke out, staring at his older sister.

"They keep him like a trophy. They don't care about his health, want, or anything else. The only reason why they keep him is to show off that they were..._kind_ enough to adopt him." Kankuro said as he then stared at the ground with a glare and frown on his painted face.

The guilt that hid behind the back of her mind for the past six years ago came back in full force. The blonde girl could remember the times when Naruto was staying at their house. During those times, the house seemed less quiet, and more cheerful. And after...it was quieter before Naruto came. It had a chilling and threatening aura.

_'Father...all because of him.' _Temari thought in anger. Unconsciously, her right hand balled up into a fist. _'No, I can't think about that. At least, not now.'_ The sound of loud footsteps came their way and Mishiba and Koyra walked into the living room. Both had a calm look on their faces that looked strange and unnatural for their appearance.

Gaara silently waited for their choice. Mishiba cleared his throat loudly while Koyra stayed silent.

"We've decided." Mishiba began.

"We accept the deal."

Somehow, Temari felt as if she taken a relieved breath when she didn't even breathe at all during Mishiba's talk. Gaara continued to stand still and stay silent. He pulled out the piece of paper that was kept inside his left pocket. The piece of paper turned out to be a check...for six hundred dollars and assigned to Mishiba. Gaara simply stuck out his hand in front of the surprised Mishiba.

"Here's the check. From now on, you will leave Uzumaki, Naruto alone."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neji was a prodigy...a genius by some people. Many, many girls (and some boys as well) have swooned and fallen in love with him. Most of them usually would stalk him...walking down the halls, eating in a restaurant, even in his home. Sasuke, well, he's the same thing (with the exception of more stalkers than Hyuuga and being more of an asshole to others). Though both of them agreed that if they met the person they...er..._like_, they would never, ever show any similarities that their stalkers show towards that person.

So...why in the hell are they on top of a tree branch that's below a window?

Er, well, it first began with Neji only following the two (after thinking about it for thirty seconds, of course). Then, Sasuke accidentally bumped into him. Which was strange since they were going in the same direction. Both glare at each other before the Uchiha asked a question.

"Where are you going?"

"I should ask you the same thing." Neji fires back.

"Hmph. That's none of your business." Sasuke said it seemed that he had tensed.

"Well, it's none of your business to question me."

Both stand in silence. Luckily, there was no one on the streets or else they would have to face the loads of tension and coldness that the two are receiving towards each other. Annoyed and impatient of the silence, Sasuke spoke.

"I just saw the idiot walk down the streets with Hatake."

Seemed that Neji wasn't the only one who had watched the scene between the two.

"So have I." Neji replied plainly

Silence. Without a word, the two walked at the same path that they both were previously going. If there were people who were luckily enough to with stand the tension and coldness a few minutes ago, they wouldn't have understood of the silent agreement from the two.

Though...

Both of them forgot to plan what to do once they followed Naruto and Kakashi. Hence they stood...on a tree branch, peering up at the bottom of a window and into the house like what countless of their stalkers have done almost everyday. They ignored the sense of irony and continued to wait for the two to appear. Sasuke turned his head towards Neji and a scowl appeared on his face.

"I thought you had a plan." Sasuke said with irritation in his voice, as if blaming the Hyuuga.

"I was thinking the same thing."

Ah, seems that they've started playing the game again. Both of them glared at each other...for what seemed like the hundredth time the whole day. _'Why in the world did I think of bring him along?' _Was the question in both of their minds right then. Of course they knew the answer, but they still pondered why.

"Eh...Kakashi-sensei?"

Both moved their heads higher and peered at the bottom of the window. Naruto and Kakashi were now in the room. They were holding hands. This made both of the boys raise their eyebrows.

"Hm?"

Kakashi lowered his book and looked at Naruto. Naruto was facing the ground between them, his blonde hair covering his eyes.

"I..."

Sasuke and Neji leaned closer to the window. Suddenly, a growl was heard...it was Naruto's stomach. Both of the boys were so surprised that they nearly fell off the tree, but got their balance quickly. Though...the tree and its leaves rustled in the process, making Kakashi and Naruto turned towards the open window. A few seconds later, Naruto's stomach growled again. Kakashi sweat dropped as Naruto rubbed his stomach sheepishly, both forgetting the sound.

"Let's go eat. I have some ramen downstairs in the kitchen." Kakashi said.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted with his right fist in the air and a grin on his face.

They both turned towards the door and went downstairs. Sasuke suddenly got an idea and started to push himself up to the entrance of the window. Neji realized what he was doing and quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Stop! You're going to get us caught." Neji whispered harshly, glaring at the Uchiha.

Sasuke turned is head towards the other and glared back, but knew that he was right...unfortunately. He looked back at the empty room again and down the stairs. Sasuke pulled back from the window and stepped back onto the branch. _'That idiot has some explaining to do at school.' _Sasuke thought with a scowl as both him and the Hyuuga stepped back to the ground.

Meanwhile...

"Kakashi-senseeei!" Naruto whined with a pout.

"I thought we were going to have ramen!"

Kakashi turned his head slightly towards Naruto and continued to stir at the thick sauce in front of him.

"Hm, I did say that we were going to have ramen..." Kakashi trailed off with a thoughtful expression in his eye.

Naruto nodded furiously with hope in his eyes and leaned closer to hear him.

"But, I changed my mind. Kakashi said cheerfully with his eye now curved.

"Whaaat?!" Naruto said with his shoulders drooped and with his mouth opened in surprise.

"I thought that you ate too much ramen and decided that you should eat something else." The older man said as he turned his attention back to the sauce.

The blonde pouted and crossed his arms. Both were silent for a few seconds until Kakashi spoke.

"Can you hand me those plates?" Kakashi said as he slightly turned and pointed at the plates at Naruto's right.

Naruto took the two plates and handed to him.

"Thank you." Kakashi said with a curve in his eye as he brushes his fingers against Naruto's.

Naruto blushed at the sudden contact.

"A-Ah, I'm going to watch some T.V." Naruto stuttered as he quickly left the kitchen.

Kakashi chuckled.

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Gaara walked down the lane of Mishiba's house with a stoic face. He was relieved, yes, but what is the point of showing it when there is a chance that they will have to make the same deal again soon? Temari's limo was waiting for them as promised.

Kankuro frowned at the event just a few minutes ago. Sure it was great that Gaara managed to save Naruto even for just a while, but they were unable to really save him from his foster parents. _'Wait. What am I saying?' _Kankuro thought. _'We couldn't just waltz right in and tell them to leave Naruto alone and have them listen.' _The boy shook his head.

"Kankuro, are you alright?" Temari asked as she stared at her brother.

Kankuro blinked and stared back.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." He trailed off as he turned his head back and looked at the ground in front of him.

Soon, they reached the limo and the driver has already opened the door for them. They quickly got in. Temari turned to Gaara with a worried look on her face.

"What do we do now?" She said.

Silence.

"We wait."

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"Naruto." Kakashi called out from the kitchen.

"Time to eat."

Naruto grinned happily as he shut off the television and went to the kitchen. _'Wait...' _The blonde thought. _'Since we're eating, that means Kakashi-sensei has got to take off his mask!' _Naruto thought happily. _'I get to see Kakashi-sensei's face!' _With that, he walked faster to the kitchen...only to find out that here was only one plate of spaghetti.

"Eh?" Naruto said, blinking.

"What? Doesn't look good?" Kakashi said with a sweat drop over his head.

"No...but I thought I was going to eat with you." Naruto said with a blush as he scratched his cheek sheepishly.

Kakashi blinked...and then smiled.

"Aww, Naru-chan wants company!" Kakashi said with humor in his voice.

"W-What?! N-No! I was just thinking that..." Naruto trailed off with a blush across his cheeks.

"And what's with the Naru-chan?!"

"What? Don't like the nickname, Naaaru-chan?" Kakashi said and chuckled as Naruto glared at him.

"No!" Naruto said.

"Well...then." Kakashi began.

"Too bad."

With nothing that he could do about it, Naruto pouted. Suddenly, the blonde's stomach growled again. With his anger gone, he sheepishly scratched his right cheek and grinned.

"Er...can I have my food now?"

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"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said...or what sounded like through a mouthful of noodles.

"Chew first Naru-chan." Kakashi said with a smile as Naruto glared at his nickname.

But he did swallow his food before speaking.

"Umm..." Naruto began as he looked at his empty bowl of ramen.

"How come I don't get to see you face?" The blonde said as he looked up and stared at Kakashi.

Kakashi was expecting the question, but the problem was; how was he going to explain it to him?

"I have never shown anyone my face. I will when the time and the person is right." Kakashi said with a smile.

"So, I'm not the right person to show?" Naruto said quietly as he went back to staring at his bowl.

"No, I don't mean it that way." Kakashi said with a nervous smile that covered up the expression in his eye.

"I'm just saying that I have yet to find someone to show my face."

...Uh-oh. Kakashi froze with his visible eye open. Naruto clenched his hands, but continued to stare down at the bowl. _'So...I'm not the right person for him?' _The blonde thought with sadness. He quickly stood up and surprised Kakashi.

"Thanks for the food and letting me stay here for a while." Naruto said as he quickly walked towards the front door.

"Wait Naruto!" Kakashi stood up and grabbed the younger man's wrist.

Naruto immediately yanked away from the grip and stared at the floor in front of him.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way." Kakashi said with a somewhat worried look on his face.

There was silence before Naruto shift slightly. _'So, he doesn't like me.'_ It...made him angry. He was angry at himself for not being that person and maybe, not the right person to be trusted. _'Will I be trusted by someone?' _He thought with a frown on his face that was hidden from Kakashi._ 'No...since I am "it"' _He almost winced.

"Naruto?" Kakashi called out as he continued to stand still.

He was surprised when Naruto looked at him with a large grin on his face. The blonde's eyes were in a curved shape to the point where you can't see them.

"Sorry about that Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said with the addition of scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Kakashi stayed silent, still surprised at the outburst. _'Why is he apologizing for?' _

"Eh...thanks for letting me stay here for a while." Naruto continued as his hands were stuffed inside his pockets.

"But I'm going to go now! See ya-" Naruto began, but was cut off.

"I've already said that you're staying here." Kakashi said as he recovered from the shock.

"But I've already said that I'm staying at a friend's house." The blonde protested; there was a feeling of total frustration over him.

"Then whose house are you staying at?" Kakashi challenged, even if he found a place, he will still make sure if tell the truth.

He has to make sure.

"I'm staying at Kiba's." Wow, he's good at lying.

"You're lying."

Okay maybe not so good, but hey, he's getting better. Naruto pressed his lips and looked down. Kakashi continued to stay still, staring at the blonde's hair. _'What now?' _Naruto thought as he clenched his hands inside his pocket.

"You can go outside if you want."

Naruto looked up and stared at Kakashi in surprise.

"Huh?"

"I really won't force you to stay here." Kakashi said with a sigh.

Naruto's eyes lit up and he smiled.

"...Thanks." He said as he walked to the front door.

Kakashi followed him. Naruto opened the door and felt something unsettling, something uncomfortable. _'Do you really want to leave?'_ It was the voice again, taunting him and giving him doubts of his choice. The blonde gripped the knob tightly. Damn it! He was sure to just leave and try to find a place...a place where he won't hurt his friends.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi with a reassuring smile. It felt nice to have someone care about him; to just help him in some way. _'Will he still care about me even if I'm not the right person?' _Naruto thought curiously. A small part of him was scared of the answer. The blonde turned around again and looked at outside.

The sun has already set and the stars began appearing. It was cold and the door was still open, but Kakashi seemed to not mind it. Both of them were quiet, it seemed like they were just savoring this moment even though it wasn't technically a pleasant one. Naruto couldn't choose what to do.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to close the door. It's getting cold." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

Naruto blinked and looked at Kakashi. He then looked down at his hand clasping the knob. With a small smile, he made his choice.

He let go of the knob.

The blonde pushed the door lightly and made the door close by itself. He turned around and grinned at Kakashi. In returned, Kakashi grinned as well.

_'Maybe I'll stay for a while longer...'_

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry if the writing style is a bit off...my writing has been kinda rusty -.-; 

Anyways, please R&R!


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